TACOMA – After going four months without racing, Annika Esvelt just wanted to get back out there … go for it … and feel good about how it went.
 
Done. … Done … And done.
 
Seattle Pacific's Esvelt, whose last competitive action was in the 5000 meters at last May's Great Northwest Athletic Conference outdoor track meet, took off from the starting line once again on Saturday and made the most of her opportunity with a second-place finish at the PLU Invitational cross country meet.
 
Esvelt completed 6 kilometers around PLU Meadows in 21 minutes, 41.3 seconds on a very warm last Saturday of summer morning. The only person ahead of her at the finish line was Constance Nankivel of Trinity Western in 21:02.1. Esvelt was 15 seconds in front of third-place finisher Rachael Watkins from Simon Fraser (21:56.7).
 
Back in 2021 on this same course, Esvelt raced to her first college win, going 22:15.70. Saturday's time was 34 seconds faster than that.
 
"I just needed to get that race high and the excitement of being out there with my team all working hard for a similar goal," Esvelt said. "That's what I got, and it was a lot of fun."
 




Esvelt, who ran alongside Nankivel through the first 2000 meters or so before the Trinity Western standout gradually pulled away, said the chance to race again was a big factor for her during the past few months.
 
"It was just knowing how much I love running and competing and racing, and having any opportunity to do it again, I just wanted to take advantage of that and just keep doing it while I can keeps motivating me," she said.
 
"It was great to get Annika back out there today and get the whole team racing together for the first time this season," assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen said. "It was fun to watch Annika. She was excited to get out there and let it rip for the first time in quite awhile, and we're happy she got to do that. It's definitely a great starting point, and we're happy to build on that going forward."
 
With Esvelt up front and Falcon teammates Matise Mulch (16th), Anna Prussian (23rd) and Maya Ewing (24th) all finishing in the top 25, SPU took third place in the team standings with 101 points.
 
"Across the board, we did a better job of staying engaged throughout the race today," Hansen said. "Going from 5K (two weeks ago) to 6K, that's usually harder to do. That was something we definitely needed to work on after that first meet, and we made a step in the right direction today."
 
Simon Fraser, the No. 2 choice in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference preseason coaches poll, won easily with 27 points. The Red Leafs had all five of their scorers in the top 10, and their entire top 7 among the first 12 finishers.
 




LeBLANC LEADS MEN TO 5TH PLACE
Brennan LeBlanc raced with the lead pack most of the way, and the combination of sophomore Isaac Venable and freshman Silas Demmert steadily moved up throughout the day as the Falcons took fifth place in the men's meet.
 
Seattle Pacific totaled 160 points. That was enough to edge Central Washington by two points. At the Puget Sound Invitational two weeks ago, the Wildcats had a seven-point edge on the Falcons. Simon Fraser, the No. 2 choice in the GNAC, won Saturday's meet with 46 points.
 
LeBlanc led the Falcons for the second week in a row. This was a standard 8-kilometer race (the Puget Sound meet was 5K), and he came across the finish line in 25:47.5.
 
Venable delivered his second consecutive strong performance, placing 30th in 26:36.6, his fastest-ever 8K by a whopping 73 seconds (27:49.8 at last year's Charles Bowles Invitational in Salem, Oregon). Demmert, in his first-ever competitive 8K, clocked 26:38.6 to place 31st.
 
"Silas had a great run in his first 8K, and he and Isaac did an awesome job of working back and forth throughout the while race, pulling each other through," Hansen said. "I'm really happy with those two working together. It wasn't our best team race across the board, but for where we're at in our season, we are where we need to be."
 
UP NEXT
Seattle Pacific returns to action next Saturday at the Bill Roe Western Washington Classic at Lake Padden Park in Bellingham. The women's 6K starts at 10:00 a.m., and the men's 8K follows at 10:45.


NCAA WOMEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
PLU Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023
6 kilometers at PLU Meadows / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Simon Fraser 27; 2, Pacific (Oregon) 65; 3, Seattle Pacific 101; 4, Whitworth 116; 5, Trinity Western 153; 6, Central Washington 170; 7, Whitworth 170 (Central gets higher spot on tiebreaker); 8, Puget Sound 232; 9, Pacific Lutheran 240; 10, Northwest University 247; 11, Green River College 291.
 
Top 5 – 1, Constance Nankivel (TW) 21:02.1; 2, Annika Esvelt (SPU) 21:41.3; 3, Rachel Watkins (Simon) 21:56.7; 4, Grace Chalk (Simon) 22:17.0; 5, Alauna Carstens (Evergreen St.) 22:25.5.
 
Other SPU – 16, Matise Mulch 23:38.0; 23, Anna Prussian 23:55.9; 24, Maya Ewing 23:58.0; 47, Nicki Yorges 25:30.8; 53, Katelyn Flolo 25:50.0.
 
 
NCAA MEN'S CROSS COUNTRY
PLU Invitational
Saturday, Sept. 16, 2023
8 kilometers at PLU Meadows / Tacoma, Wash.
 
Team scores – 1, Simon Fraser 46; 2, Whitworth 88; 3, Pacific Lutheran 96; 4, Whitman 119; 5, Seattle Pacific 160; 6, Central Washington 162; 7, Puget Sound 189; 8, Northwest University 202; 9, Pacific (Oregon) 232; 10, PLU Alumni 241; 11, Evergreen State 283; 12, Green River College 288; 13, Everett CC 362.
 
Top 5 – 1, Johan Correa (CWU) 24:23.7; 2, Sebastian Brinkman (Simon) 24:27.7; 3, Ephrem Mekonnen (Simon) 24:58.6; 4, Ryan Stracke (PLU) 25:04.1; 5, Micah Murphy (Northwest) 25:10.6.
 
SPU – 15, Brennan LeBlanc 25:47.5; 30, Isaac Venable 26:36.6; 31, Silas Demmert 26:38.6; 43, Jonathan Lieb 27:11.7; 56, Nathaniel Gale 27:39.3; 94, Gabe Endresen 29:14.3.