June 4, 2007

Bronx, N.Y. - Fordham University women's basketball signee Raina Spencer (Cleveland, Ohio/Glenville) won the 2007 Ohio Division I high jump title with a leap of 5' 9" at the state championships in Columbus on June 1st. She is the first Greater Cleveland athlete to win a title at the Division I meet.

Spencer won the title in thrilling fashion, clearing the bar at 5'9" on her final attempt of the event. She and Kelsey Couls of Powell Olentangy Liberty both cleared 5' 8" but Couls missed all three of her attempts at 5'9". If Spencer had missed her final attempt at 5' 9", Couls would have won the title due to fewer misses at the 5'8" height. Spencer finished second at last year's state championships under similar circumstances.

"I had misses all through the heights today," Spencer told the Cleveland Plain Dealer. "[Couls] had made all her jumps before she went out. Last year I finished second the same way. I had made all my jumps, but [Lisa Johnson of Sylvania Northview] cleared the last height."

"I was just thinking I've got to get it. I'm a senior. It's my last chance. I've got to go home a champion. I couldn't disappoint everyone back home."

Spencer, a 5-9 guard, has been a three-sport athlete at Glenville High School, a school that produced 2007 Heisman trophy winner Troy Smith along with Ohio State teammate Ted Ginn, Jr. A McDonald's High School All-American nominee, she was rated the 40th best shooting guard nationally by the All Star Girls Report and was a Second Team All-State selection by the Cleveland Plain Dealer. Spencer scored over 1,000 points in her career and participated at the 2006 adidas Top Ten Camp. She was selected as the Most Valuable Player for the Senate Athletic League in 2006-07 for basketball and also earned that honor for volleyball as a senior, helping that team to five City Championships. In track, she currently holds the high jump record at the Outdoor City Championships and earned State Runner-Up status in the high jump in 2006. Away from athletics, Spencer is a member of the Glenville High School Honor Roll.

"Raina is a winner! She is a young woman who continues to exhibit the kind of composure and determination of a seasoned athlete," said Fordham head women's basketball coach, Cathy Andruzzi. "We saw it on the basketball court this year when her team was down and she wanted the ball in her hands when the game was on the line and at the Ohio State Championships when she had one last chance to go home a champion."

"We are proud of Raina and look for her to bring that competitive drive and passion to our basketball program."