BOSTON – Annika Esvelt raced into the Seattle Pacific record book – and raced right past a legendary Falcon distance runner to get there.
 
The SPU senior made her indoor track season debut in speedy style on Saturday afternoon, clocking 16 minutes, 9.93 seconds in the women's 5000 meters at the Sharon Colyer-Danville Season Opener at Boston University.
 
 

Esvelt's time for 25 laps around the 200-meter banked oval at the BU Track & Tennis Center bettered the old Seattle Pacific record of 16:12.65 set by Jessica Pixler on Jan. 30, 2009 in the UW Invitational at Dempsey Indoor.
 
Pixler ran to multiple NCAA titles across all three distance running seasons (cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track), and still owns the school indoor records for the mile and the 3000. Ironically, that UW Invite race was her only indoor 5K.
 
And now, the record belongs to Esvelt.
 
"She's one of my heroes in a way – I admire her so much," Esvelt said of the former fleet-footed Falcon star. "I'm really trying to crack down on some of her times, so that's crazy that I got one of her records. I know she didn't run the 5K indoors that much, but it's still pretty exciting."
 
Esvelt's performance on Saturday will easily send her to Indianapolis for the NCAA indoor nationals in March.
 
 

"The biggest thing we wanted today was to get national qualifying for indoor nationals," SPU assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen said, "and she certainly did that. We said that any other giant barriers that she breaks today is just a bonus. Coming away with a PR and a school record is really a pretty good day."
 
Esvelt easily beat her previous indoor best of 16:29.98 from last season's indoor nationals and her overall 5K best of 16:14.31 from the 2022 West Coast Relays outdoor meet.
 
"I think I vaguely thought about (the record) maybe a few weeks ago," Esvelt said. "But I knew it wasn't as fast as the outdoor record (15:44.07 by Pixler at the Stanford Invitational in March 2010), so I really have not been thinking about that."
 
It was just two weeks ago on Nov. 23 in Sacramento when Esvelt capped off her best-ever cross country season with a fourth-place finish at the NCAA Division II nationals.
 
Racing in Saturday's fourth heat, Esvelt climbed into fourth place after Lap 4 of 25 and stayed in that spot most of the way. She moved up as far as second at the 3000-meter mark. then remaining third or fourth for the final 2000 meters. She wound up fourth in her heat and was 55th overall among the 161 competitors.
 
"I felt really in control that I was in good position," Esvelt said. "The pace fell off a little bit somewhere in the middle, and I think if (it had kept up), I would have been maybe five seconds faster. Obviously, it was hard through 3K and 4K, but the race gave me a lot of confidence. I feel totally fit. It's pretty amazing that I can go that fast and still keep going."
 
Added Hansen, "She looked very smooth, very comfortable. Having seen her race as many times as we have, when it comes to the 5K, as long as she can come through the 2K feeling good, we know she's probably going to have it. She was very comfortable at 2K and even very comfortable at 3K. So at that point, we're just watching the clock."
 
UP NEXT
Esvelt was SPU's only competitor in Boston. The entire team will open its season next Saturday at the Spokane Invitational, taking place in The Podium. Field events start at 9:00 a.m., and track races begin at 10:00 a.m. The last event is set for 6:40 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S INDOOR TRACK & FIELD
Sharon Colyer-Danville Season Opener
Saturday, Dec. 7, 2024
Boston University Track & Tennis Center / Boston, Mass.
 
Team scores – Not kept.
 
SPU EVENTS ONLY
5000 – 1, Doris Lemngole (Alabama) 14:52.57.  SPU – 55, Annika Esvelt 16:09.93.
 
 

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