PORTLAND, Ore. – Annika Esvelt is back on the trails … and she's movin' fast.
 
The Seattle Pacific distance standout made her 2023 cross debut last Saturday, racing to a second-place finish at the PLU Invitational. That performance has earned her the Great Northwest Athletic Conference's Female Runner of the Week award.
 
 

An academic senior but a junior for athletics, Esvelt finished her 6 kilometers at PLU Meadows in 21 minutes, 41.3 seconds, helping the Falcons take third place among the 11 teams. The only runner ahead of her was Trinity Western's Constance Nankivel. Esvelt was 15 seconds in front of third-place Rachel Watkins from Simon Fraser.
 
"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," said Esvelt, whose last race prior to Saturday was the 5000 meters at last May's GNAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships. "That's what I got, and it was a lot of fun."
 
Esvelt's time was 34 seconds faster than what she posted on the same course in 2021.
 
"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."
 
This is Esvelt's third Runner of the Week award.
 
The Falcons return to action on Saturday in the Bill Roe Western Washington Classic at Bellingham's Lake Padden Park. The 6K women's race starts at 10:00 a.m., followed by the 8K men's race at 10:45.