EMPORIA, Kansas – Annika Esvelt has been there, done that.
 
But in this case, she had more time to do something about it.
 
The Seattle Pacific senior bounced back up from a fall just 500 meters into the women's 5000 meters, ran herself back into contention, then earned her second awards podium position of the week, finishing seventh on Saturday at the NCAA Division II Track & Field Championships.
 
Esvelt went the distance in 16 minutes, 54.06 seconds for 12½ laps around the gold oval inside Welch Stadium at Emporia State University.. That performance came on the heels of Thursday's silver medal finish in the 10,000.
 
As she did on Thursday in the 10K, Florence Uwajeneza of West Texas A&M gradually pulled away to win, clocking 16:33.00.
 
At the NCAA indoor championships on March 8 in Pittsburg, Kansas, Esvelt was looking at a top-8 finish in the 5000 when she clipped the rail and fell with about 400 meters to go. She got back up and finished 10th, but fell short of the podium.
 
This time, she had about 4500 meters to put herself back into the mix – and only needed about 200 meters to do so. Heading up the backstretch on the next lap, she was already up to third place. Then for the next six laps, Esvelt, Brianna Robles of Adams State (Colorado) and Uwajeneza were essentially shoulder-to-shoulder, separated by just a few hundredths of a second.
 
 

"At the trip part, I was just trying to stay on my feet again, But since it was so packed, you trip over someone's leg, then you try to stand up and you trip over someone else's leg," said Esvelt, who came in as the No. 11 seed in the field of 22. "I wasn't really that far off (the lead), so I was just trying to get back up there."
 
SPU assistant coach / distance coach Eric Hansen had no doubt that Esvelt could get return toward the front of the pack.
 
"Obviously, it was frustrating going down again in the 5k, but they were going slow enough and it was early enough that she was able to get right back into it without burning too much energy," Hansen said. "It was obviously pretty hot, and a lot of people were doubling back (from the 10,000), so we were expecting the race to be pretty slow and tactical.

"She's got a lot of confidence right now, and I had enough confidence in her that she's strong enough to go out there and string it out early (with the leaders)."

Uwajeneza took charge with four laps to go, and once she did, she clearly was not going to be caught. She had a three-second gap on Robles with three laps left, and Robles had opened a five-second gap on the chase pack, a group of four now battling for the bronze, and that included Esvelt. That foursome gradually stretched out through the final 800 meters.
 
Her finish gave SPU another two team points, along with the eight she scored on Thursday in the 10,000.
 
"I'm really excited that I got that, because I rounded it out to 10 points," Esvelt said.
 
Esvelt's double-podium weekend capped a year in which she won a GNAC indoor title (3000), a GNAC outdoor title (5000), had her best-ever finish at GNAC cross country (third) and was All-Region in cross, indoor, and outdoor. And, with another year of eligibility from the pandemic shutdown of 2020-21, she is planning to be back for all three seasons next year.
 
"I think I've just had a lot of really good races and have been able to take advantage of my opportunities and just get better and better," Esvelt said. "It's really exciting. I just love being really healthy and having fun."
 
 

Hansen was delighted not only with what Esvelt did this year on both the trails and track, but with how she did it.
 
"Just the amount of growth she has had, not only from a fitness standpoint, but from a confidence and racing standpoint, she's a 100-times better racer than at the beginning of this year," Hansen said. "Just seeing her confidence as a runner and just the way she carries herself in practice every day, it's a night-and-day difference – and I mean that in the best possible way."
 
This was Esvelt's second time doing the 10K-5K double at NCAAs. In 2022, she was fourth in the 10,000 and 10th in the 5000.

 
NCAA WOMEN'S TRACK & FIELD
NCAA Division II Championships
Saturday, May 25, 2024
Welch Stadium / Emporia, Kansas
 
SPU EVENTS
5000 meters – 1, Florence Uwajeneza (West Texas A&M) 16:33.00.  SPU – 7, Annika Esvelt 16:54.06.