TACOMA – That was some kind of debut for Vanessa Aniteye.
 
Racing in Seattle Pacific colors for the first time after starring previously at Alaska Anchorage, Aniteye factored into three victories on Saturday afternoon as the Falcons began their outdoor track and field season at the PLU Open.
 
A senior, Aniteye ran the second leg on the victorious 4-by-100 relay team, led off the winning 4-by-400 relay, and in between was at the front from almost start to finish in the 800 meters at Pacific Lutheran Track.
 
 

She was one of two triple winners for SPU on a day started out mostly sunny and pleasant, but ended with considerably gusty winds and raindrops. Senior Peace Igbonagwam also was on both of those relays and won the 400-meter dash.
 
The Seattle Pacific men picked up a relay victory as well, with the foursome of David Njeri, Isaiah Archer, Jeff Gordon, and Julius Shepherd getting to the finish line first in the 4-by-400.
 
A native of Germany, Aniteye raced for Anchorage from 2017-19, She has won five Great Northwest Athletic Conference crowns in the 400-meter dash: three outdoors and two indoors. She also was a part of two GNAC-winning relay teams for the Seawolves: an indoor 4-by-400 and an outdoor 4-by-100. In addition, Aniteye has raced in six NCAA meets: three outdoors, three indoors.
 
Saturday's 4-by-100 foursome included Igbonagwam on leadoff, then Aniteye, Aniya Green and Jenna Bouyer. They got around in 47.37 seconds.
 
Following Aniteye on the 4-by-400 were Igbonagwam, Libby Michael, and Johanna Brown. Battling a fierce wind that kicked up shortly before the end of the meet, they clocked 4:03.55.
 
"This is my first day back (since 2019), and it was nice to be here," Aniteye said. "I was just trying to have fun a little bit."
 
Aniteye clocked a 2:12.31 in her second-ever 800, just seven-hundredths of a second shy of the NCAA Division II provisional qualifying time of 2:12.24. (For the record, her time would have placed second behind Falcons teammate Ellie Rising at last year's GNAC Championships.)
 
"It's a new race for me, and I'm still figuring it out," Aniteye said. "It was just my second time running it. I felt like I learned a little bit more from the last time (which was the 2019 Mike Fanelli Classic, when she went 2:13.52)."
 
Igbonagwam led a 1-2-3 Falcons finish in the women's 400 dash, stopping the watch in 57.91 seconds. Freshman Johanna Brown was second in 1:00.59, and sophomore Green clocked 1:01.47.
 
 

Rising won the 1500 in 4:45.13. She also was fourth in the 800 in 2:17.03. Libby Michael, competing for the first time since last April 30, posted a personal-best time by nearly five seconds, taking fifth in 2:19.42. Her previous best was 2:24.05 last March 20 at the Doris Heritage Track Festival.
 
Charlie Hill, Madison Licari, and Lizzy Daugherty went 2-3-4 in the women's pole vault. Hill and Licari both cleared 10 feet, 11¾ inches; Daugherty was at 10-6.
 
As did the women's 4-by-400 relay, the Falcon men had to deal with the gusty wind at race time. But Njeri, Archer, Gordon, and Shepherd still made it around in a sub-3:30, finishing in 3:28.14.
 
On the day of his college outdoor debut, Falcons freshman Archer finished second-place finish in the men's 800 meters, going 1:56.57. He led for a good portion of the race before PLU's Hezekiah Goodwin surged ahead down the stretch and got there in 1:56.23.
 
Brad Bowman claimed second place in the pole vault at 13-1½.
 
UP NEXT
The Falcons will host the sixth Doris Heritage Track Festival on Saturday, March 19, at West Seattle Stadium. Field events begin at 10:00 a.m., and races on the track start at noon.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
PLU Open
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Pacific Lutheran Track / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
 
100 – 1, E'lexis Hollis (CWU) 12.22. SPU – 18, Emelia Ballard 14.32.
200 – 1, Makenna Hansen (CWU) 25.14. SPU – 17, Emelia Ballard 29.35.
400 – 1, Peace Igbonagwam (SPU) 57.91. Other SPU – 2, Johanna Brown 1:00.59; 3, Aniya Green 1:01.47.
800 – 1, Vanessa Aniteye (SPU) 2;12.31. Other SPU – 4, Ellie Rising 2:17.03; 5, Libby Michael 2:19.42; 14, Kelsey Washenberger 2:34.43.
1500 – 1, Ellie Rising (SPU) 4:45.13. Other SPU – 3, Nicki Yorges 4:57.40
4x100 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Peace Igbonagwam, Vanessa Aniteye, Aniya Green, Jenna Bouyer) 47.37. No other SPU.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (Vanesa Aniteye, Peace Igbonagwam, Libby Michael, Johanna Brown) 4:03.55. No other SPU.
Pole vault – 1, Lily Luksich (PLU) 11-9¾ / 4.60m. SPU – 2, Charlie Hill 10-11¾ / 3.35m; 3, Madison Licari (SPU) 10-11¾ / 3.35m; 4, Lizzy Daugherty 10-6 / 3.20m; T10, Emily Northey 9-0¼ / 2.75m.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S TRACK & FIELD
PLU Open
Saturday, March 12, 2022
Pacific Lutheran Track / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
 
200 – 1, Michael Russell (Unattached) 22.55. SPU – 19, Gabe Woodard 24.90.
400 – 1, Ryan Greenwalt (WWU) 50.60. SPU – 15, Gabe Woodard 54.67.
800 – 1, Hezekiah Goodwin (PLU) 1:56.23. SPU – 2, Isaiah Archer 1:56.57; 11, Jon Owen 2:00.90; 24, Colin Boutin 2:06.66; 27, Brennan LeBlanc 2:09.05; 28, Gabe Endresen 2:09.90.
1500 – 1, Ben Kerr (UPS) 3:54.95. SPU – 12, Jon Owen 4:10.53; 14, Colin Boutin 4:11.24; 15, Brennan LeBlanc 4:11.53; 19, Ben Sheirbon 4:17.38; 24, Gabe Endresen 4:20.24;
4x100 relay – 1, Pacific Lutheran 43.19. SPU – DQ.
4x400 relay – 1, Seattle Pacific (David Njeri, Isaiah Archer, Jeff Gordon, Julius Shepherd) 3:28.14. Other SPU – 8, Seattle Pacific (Gabe Woodard, Colin Boutin, Brennan LeBlanc, Jon Owen) 3:50.41
Pole vault – 1, Corey Solomon (PLU) 15-1 / 4.60m. SPU – 2, Brad Bowman 13-1½ / 4.00m; Kainoa Lee no height.