Making waves to making saves. ... Claiming a national championship to capturing a big game against a nationally ranked opponent. ... Reaching the record book to reaching a 'grand' scoring milestone. ... Bouncing back from near defeat to pull out a volleyball victory to speeding back from a scary incident to win a track race. Seattle Pacific athletes and teams did all of those things and more during the just-completed 2022-23 academic year. Through the next two weeks, we'll relive some of those special moments through a series of "Falcon Flashback" stories.

     PREVIOUS CHAPTERS
     Monday, June 19: Women's rowing 3rd at NCAAs
     Tuesday, June 20: Wittrell wins in his return to the track


March 11, 2023

By MARK MOSCHETTI
Seattle Pacific Sports Information

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – For nearly the entire season, Vanessa Aniteye was on top of the national rankings for the women's 800 meters. And she did it mostly alone, running well ahead in most of her races.
 
When Saturday afternoon was done, Aniteye was on top again. This time, she wasn't alone at all. She got lots of help …
 
… from her fellow finalists.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior went back and forth with Helen Braybrook of Colorado State Pueblo, then took the lead at the bell lap and hung on to win by two-tenths of a second in the finals of the NCAA Division II Indoor Track & Field Championships.
 
Aniteye's time of 2 minutes, 6.84 seconds on the banked 200-meter blue oval inside the Virginia Beach Sports Center not only was fast enough to take the top prize, it was fast enough to break the school indoor record. The previous mark of 2:07.52 was set by Lynelle Decker in a second-place finish at the 2016 NCAAs.
 
The top five finishers crossed the line within three-quarters of a second of each other, from Aniteye's 2:06.84 to fifth-place Aryelle Wright's time of 2:07.60. Of the eight finalists, the top seven placers all bettered their Friday preliminary times.
 
"I think all the competitors came to race, and it showed early on," Aniteye said. "I took out the first 200 hot like I planned to, and I think all of the others were like, 'Hey, we're also here to win it.'
 
"The field made me race," she added. "It felt great after leading D2 all season to be able to prove that I didn't just do that all by myself. I could also do it while competing with the best in the nation, and that was amazing. I couldn't think of a better way to end the season."
 
Nor could SPU head coach Karl Lerum.
 
 

"It's not how we drew it up (as far as a race plan), but I'm just incredibly happy and proud of Vanessa – proud of what she did today and what she did all year," he said. "Our plan was we thought if she laid down a really hard first 600, nobody would be able to match it. But it was a true race. There were lead changes and contact, but she kept her eyes up and maneuvered into position to where she could make a big move and win it at the end.
 
"It's not easy for anyone to win a title," Lerum continued. "But I feel like Vanessa deserved it today."
 
Aniteye's victory was Seattle Pacific's eighth national indoor championship, its first since 2010, and its first in the 800.
 
PACE-SETTERS FROM THE GET-GO
Although she came into Friday's preliminary heats with the top-seeded time of 2:07.53, Aniteye wound up as the No. 3 seed for finals. She won her prelim in 2:09.56, while Braybrook took her heat in 2:07.79, and Aryelle Wright of Colorado Mines was next in 2:08.30.
 
 

Aniteye and Braybrook were right next to each other on the starting line. After a false-start gun fired on the first try (no one was disqualified), those two set the early pace. At the break for the inside lane at the 100-meter mark, Aniteye took the lead.
 
Braybrook moved ahead after the second of four laps, with Aniteye and Grand Valley State's Taryn Chapko (No. 2 nationally coming into the meet) on her heels.
 
"There was a little bit of stumbling, and I think somebody spiked me somewhere along the way," Aniteye said, "I was like, 'Oh, this is not going as planned.'"
 
As they took the bell for the final lap, Aniteye surged ahead again. Whenever it appeared as if she might stretch it out, Braybrook was right there with her. Aniteye had enough to get to the finish line first, no more than half a stride ahead.
 
"As soon as she started kicking and I started kicking, I knew I was still feeling good – I wasn't completely dead," Aniteye said. "At this point, it was, 'OK, I've just got to keep it up through the finish line.'"
 
She did exactly that.
 
"It still wasn't real even when I crossed the finish line," Aniteye added. "I can't believe I just did that. It was great – it was amazing to finally race. Everyone showed up today, so it was great."
 
FABULOUS FINISH
Saturday capped a highly successful finish to Aniteye's year-long career with the Falcons. She came to Seattle after three seasons at Alaska Anchorage (2017-19), then taking extensive time away from the sport after giving birth to son Josiah, who'll turn 3 in May.
 
Aniteye concluded her outdoor career last spring with school records in the 400-meter dash (breaking it three times) and as part of the 4-by-100 relay, capped by an All-American sixth-place trophy in the 400 at NCAAs.
 
"For her to come out here and have a tremendous career and have her take it to the next step in her last go-round – I'm just thrilled for her," Lerum said.
 
Associate head coach / distance coach Chris Reed watched Saturday's race online, but was feeling some of those same emotions on this coast as Lerum and Aniteye were feeling on the opposite one.

 

"It's really hard to accomplish these types of things. So many moving pieces had to fall into place over the season for this to be possible, let alone for it to actually happen," Reed said. "It's a testament to Vanessa to her hard work and her faith in the whole process from start to finish. And obviously, her talent and competitiveness played a huge role.
 
"When she first made her commitment here, she said something along the lines of wanting to prove that motherhood and an athletic career did not have to be mutually exclusive. She certainly proved that today."

 
Until this winter, a national championship hadn't crossed Aniteye's mind.
 
"I always wanted to be an All-American for sure, get into the top 8," she said. "But never was I going into a race thinking, 'I'm going to be a national champion' This was the first time. I was really hoping for it today. But actually making it come true … I'm just extremely happy that I could do that today."
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Division II Championships
Friday-Saturday, March 10-11, 2023
Virginia Beach Sports Center / Virginia Beach, Va.
 
Top 10 team scores – 1, Adams State 52; 2, Minnesota State 51; 3, West Texas A&M 46; 4, Azusa Pacific 37; 5, Winona State 36; 6, Grand Valley State 35; 7, Central Missouri 27; T8, Colorado School of Mines and Pittsburg State 24; T10, Angelo State and Northwest Missouri 22.  SPU – T21, Seattle Pacific, Adelphi, Chadron State, and Wayne State (Neb.) 10.
 
FINALS
800 – 1, Vanessa Aniteye (SPU) 2:06.84