EMPORIA, Kansas – Maybe it would be gold. Maybe silver. Maybe bronze.
 
Whatever color, Annika Esvelt believed she could wrap her hands around a shiny NCAA trophy on Thursday night.
 
A thunderstorm merely delayed the inevitable …
 
… but not for long.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior distance runner went with the leaders from the starting gun, stayed on their shoulders until it was down to just two of them – her and West Texas A&M's Florence Uwajeneza – and came through with a solid second-place finish in the women's 10,000 meters at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships.
 
Esvelt finished her 25 laps around the gold track inside Emporia State's Welch Stadium in 34 minutes, 18.07 seconds
 
The only one ahead of her was Uwajeneza, a senior who won the indoor 5000 meters in March. She made a decisive move coming out of the first turn on the bell lap and crossed the finish line in 34:14.47.
 
Esvelt's finish was her highest ever at an NCAA meet. She was fourth in the 10K at the 2022 nationals in Allendale, Michigan.
 
 

"I'm really happy with it," Esvelt said. "(The race) did not at all go the way I thought it was going to. But in terms of everyone running tactical and trying to stay out of the way, that part made a lot of sense. So I also tried to be tactical. I'm very happy with how it ended."
 
 

So too was SPU assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen, who also had no doubt Esvelt could earn a place on one of the three highest awards podium steps.
 
"Based on her fitness and how her training has been going, I felt pretty good that she could get a top-3 spot. National runner-up is pretty incredible," he said. "I think we had a good race plan coming into it, and she executed it perfectly, put herself in a good spot the whole way and ran in incredible last mile."

 
TALK ABOUT A LOADED FIELD … WOW
Esvelt came into the race as the fourth seed with her time of 33:41.59 from the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, California on April 11. On that same night in the same race, Uwajeneza clocked her D2-leading time of 32:52.54. Then two weeks later, Brianna Robles of Adams State (Colorado) went 33:03.55. And before any of that, Kylie Anicic of Edinboro (Pennsylvania) ran 33:22.55.
 
Robles and Uwajeneza went 2-3 in last year's outdoor 10K. The Nos. 5, 7, 8, 10 and 11 finishers also were back. Uwajeneza and Robles were 1-2 at the NCAA indoor 5K in March.
 
So, yeah … it was stacked.
 
"Second place was just incredible against that field," Hansen said.
 
Esvelt led the first four laps, then Robles went to the front for the next 16. In reality, though, it was essentially a dead heat among the top dozen.. With eight laps to go, the lead pack was down to a group of nine. A lap later, it was down to six. Then it was four: Esvelt, Robles, Uwajeneza, and Zoe Baker of Colorado Mines.
 
With four to go, Baker dropped back. Now, it was Esvelt, Uwajeneza and Robles. Heading up the backstretch on the 22nd of the 25 laps, Esvelt made a move to take the lead. Uwajeneza responded immediately. But that punch-counterpunch helped them open a gap on Robles, who gradually began to drop off.
 
"There was lot more slowing down and speeding up I the middle than we were getting ready for," Hansen said. "She was still able to make the move when we planned on it, and it worked out about as perfect as you could ask for."
 
THEN IT WAS TWO
Uwajeneza and Esvelt took the bell just 21 hundredths of a second apart – again, essentially a dead heat. Coming out of that turn, Uwajeneza kicked it up a gear, and by the time both were heading up the backstretch, she was clearly in command.
 
Esvelt did not ease up at all – she ran her last 400 in 74.08, and in fact was sub-80 for each of her final five laps. But Uwajeneza, who also went sub-80 for the final five, split 70.69 on that last lap, and that was the difference.
 
"We had planned on going at 2K (to go), so I did that. But even before that, I was pretty sure I was going to finish where I was ranked – or higher," Esvelt said. "I was just trying to run as fast as I could at that point."
 
She fully expected Uwajeneza to be there when it came to crunch time, but figured it would be a threesome with Robles.
 
"I thought Brianna would definitely be up there because every time I've raced her, she's got a really incredible kick," Esvelt said.
 
The race initially was scheduled to start at 8:50 p.m. Central time at the end of a warm, humid day The weather delay was because of thunderstorms in the area – not necessarily a surprise because the forecast called for that possibility for all three days of the meet. It came just as the men's 10K runners were standing on the starting line for their 8:10 p.m. race. They finally got going at 9:30 p.m., and the women took off at 10:05.
 
"I just tried to stay calm and make sure I'm relaxed, and I did a shortened warm-up before the race," Esvelt said.
 
UP NEXT
Esvelt will return to action on Saturday in the 5000 meters on Saturday at 3:25 p.m. Pacific time. On Friday, sophomore Hannah Chang will race in the 100-meter hurdles preliminaries. That one starts at 4:50 p.m.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
NCAA Division II Championships
Thursday, May 23, 2024
Welch Stadium / Emporia, Kansas
 
10,000 – 1, Florenze Uwajeneza (West Texas A&M) 34:14.47.  SPU – 2, Annika Esvelt 34:18.07.


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