Tuesday, March 21, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – One ended her career as a Division II champion. One earned All-American honors and two conference titles. Both are being called the best in the GNAC.

On the heels of two outstanding seasons, Seattle Pacific senior Vanessa Aniteye and Northwest Nazarene sophomore Steven Schmidt have been selected by coaches as the 2022-23 GNAC Indoor Track and Field Athletes of the Year.

Aniteye was selected as the Women’s Athlete of the Year after capping an inspiring comeback to the sport by winning the Division II championship in the 800 meters. Aniteye had been out of the sport for two years after giving birth to her son but found new life for her career after transferring from Alaska Anchorage to Seattle Pacific and moving up in distance to the 800 meters.

A three-time all-conference performer at 400 meters, Aniteye led Division II in the 800 meters for all but two weeks of the season. She won the GNAC title with a time of 2:08.71. Two weeks later, Aniteye won the Division II Championships with a time of 2:06.84 that ranks her No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list. Recently named the USTFCCCA West Region Female Track Athlete of the Year, Aniteye is the 17th champion for the conference in women’s indoor track and field and the first for Seattle Pacific since 2010.

Schmidt was the unanimous selection for Men’s Athlete of the Year after an outstanding season that saw him win two conference titles and earn All-American honors in the heptathlon. Schmidt won his second straight conference championship in the heptathlon with a meet-record score of 5,386 points and also won the long jump with a mark of 22 feet, 11 inches. Schmidt added a second-place finish in the high jump and a third-place finish in the pole vault. The combined effort earned Schmidt selection as the GNAC Championships Male Field Athlete of the Meet.

Schmidt also received the meet’s Male Performance of the Meet award for his meet-record performance in the heptathlon high jump where he cleared 7 feet, 0.25 inches, a mark that ranks No. 3 on the GNAC all-time list and No 8 in Division II this season.

At the Division II Championships, Schmidt used a strong second day to finish in third place with a score of 5,523 points that ranks No. 2 on the GNAC all-time list. On the season, Schmidt set NNU records in the high jump and the heptathlon and is in the top-four on the NNU list in the long jump and pole vault.

Western Oregon’s Octavious Gillespie-Bennett was selected as both the Men’s and Women’s Coach of the Year after he led the Wolves to a title sweep at the GNAC Championships. The WOU women won their first indoor track and field championship in program history with a score of 122 points, five points ahead of Western Washington. The men collected their first championship since 2012 with a score of 131 points, six ahead of Western Washington.

Between the men and women, Gillespie-Bennett and his staff saw six athletes win conference championships in seven events and earned 18 all-conference selections. The titles included two for senior Jenelle Hurley in the high jump and pentathlon, which helped earn her GNAC Championships Female Field Athlete of the Meet honors.

Northwest Nazarene senior Brayden Durfee was named the Men’s Newcomer of the Year. The transfer from Division I Boise State finished third in both the 60 meters and 400 meters at the GNAC Championships and placed sixth in the 200 meters. Durfee finished the season with the second-fastest time in the GNAC in the 60 meters at 6.91 seconds and the fourth fastest in the 400 meters in 49.09 seconds.

Western Oregon junior Unjunwa Nwokoma earned the Women’s Newcomer of the Year after she won the long jump at the GNAC Championships with a season-best mark of 19 feet. The leap ranks Nwokoma No. 9 on the GNAC all-time and was an NCAA Championships provisional qualifying mark that tied for the 36th-best in Division II this season.

A pair of horizontal jumpers shared the Men’s Freshman of the Year awards in Western Washington’s Gabe Menicke and Saint Martin’s Hewie Nguyen. Menicke earned all-conference honors with a second-place finish at the GNAC Championships in the triple jump. His season-best mark of 46 feet, 0.75 inches ranked second in the GNAC this season behind conference champion David Njeri of Seattle Pacific.

Hewson finished second in the long jump at the GNAC Championships with a leap of 22 feet, 10.5 inches. He was one of three SMU athletes to earn all-conference honors at the meet. Nguyen finished the season ranked No. 3 in the long jump and No. 9 in the triple jump.

Western Washington’s Meaera Shannon and Simon Fraser’s Emma Cannan shared the Women’s Freshman of the Year award. Shannon won the 5,000 meters at the GNAC Championships with a time of 17:55.64 and placed eighth in the 3,000 meters. Her winning time in the 5,000 meters was the second-fastest in the GNAC this season and ranks her eighth on the Western Washington all-time list.

Cannan finished second in the 200 meters at the GNAC Championships with a season-best time of 24.68 seconds. She also placed seventh in the 60 meters with a time of 7.75. Her preliminaries time of 7.70 seconds ranked her second in the GNAC this season to teammate Marie-Éloïse Leclair.

2022-23 GNAC INDOOR TRACK AND FIELD SPECIAL AWARDS
MEN
Athlete of the Year: Steven Schmidt, Northwest Nazarene
Coach of the Year: Octavious Gillespie-Bennett, Western Oregon
Newcomer of the Year: Brayden Durfee, Northwest Nazarene
Freshman of the Year: Gabe Menicke, Western Washington & Hewie Nguyen, Saint Martin's

WOMEN
Athlete of the Year: Vanessa Aniteye, Seattle Pacific
Coach of the Year: Octavious Gillespie-Bennett
Newcomer of the Year: Ujunwa Nwokoma, Western Oregon
Freshman of the Year: Emma Cannan, Simon Fraser & Meaera Shannon, Western Washington