Friday, March 17, 2023

PORTLAND, Ore. – After resurrecting her career, changing distances and winning it all, Seattle Pacific senior Vanessa Aniteye has been selected as the Division II Indoor Track and Field West Region Female Track Athlete of the Year by the U.S. Track and Field & Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

Aniteye was selected for the honor after completing an incredible comeback that saw her win the Division II championship in the 800 meters.

After concentrating on the 400 meters for most of her career, including her outdoor senior season last spring, Aniteye moved up to the 800 meters after not having raced indoors since 2019. She proceeded to have the top time in Division II for all but two weeks of the season. Aniteye went on to win the 800 meters at the GNAC Championships in a time of 2:08.71 and won the Division II championship with a time of 2:06.84.

Aniteye’s time at the Division II Championships was not only a Seattle Pacific record but ranks No. 5 on the GNAC all-time list.

Aniteye is the 10th GNAC athlete to be named the USTFCCCA’s Female West Region Track Athlete of the Year and the first since Simon Fraser’s Addy Townsend earned the honor in 2020. She is the first Seattle Pacific athlete to win the track award since Jessica Pixler in 2010 and the first SPU athlete to earn an indoor regional award since Scout Cai was named the Female West Region Field Athlete of the Year in 2019.

In terms of her indoor career, Aniteye finishes as an eight-time All-West Region selection (three times in the 400 meters, one time in the 800 meters and two times in both the 4x400-meter relay and distance medley relay) and a six-time all-conference selection (three times in the 400 meters and one time each in the 800 meters, 4x400-meter relay and DMR).