SPU: Five-year letterwinner. ... USTFCCA indoor 1st Team All-American in 5000 meters (2022, 2025) and 3000 meters (2025). ... All-American 2nd team in 5000 (2024). ... USTFCCCA outdoor 1st Team All-American in 10,000 (2022, 2024 and 2025), 1st team in 5000 (2024) 2nd team in 5000 (2022, 2025). ... USTFCCCA Indoor All-West Region in 3000 and 5000 (2022, 2024 and 2025) and mile (2025). ... USTFCCCA outdoor All-West Region in 5000 and 10,000 (2022, 2024 and 2025). ... All-GNAC indoor in 3000 (2022, 2024 and 2025), mile (2025) and 5000 (2022). ... All-GNAC outdoor in 1500 (2024 and 2025), 5000 (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) and 10,000 (2022). ... CoSIDA Academic All-America 1st team (2024) and 2nd team (2022). ... CoSIDA Academic All-District (2022, 2024, 2025). ... USTFCCCA All-Academic (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). ... GNAC Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year (2024). ... GNAC All-Academic (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025). ... GNAC Faculty Athletic Representative Scholar-Athlete Award (2022, 2023, 2024 and 2025) ... SPU Ron Grady Athlete of the Year in 2025. ... NCAA Woman of the Year nominee in 2025. ... GNAC Athlete of the Week on Dec. 9 after her national-leading performance in the 5000 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville season opener on Dec. 7, and on April 7 after her first sub-16 in the 5000 at the Stanford Invitational.
5th year (2025): INDOOR -- Placed an All-American 7th in both the 3000 in 9:28.94 and 5000 in 16:20.55 at NCAAs. ... Won GNAC titles in the mile and 3000 meters on Feb. 18. Came into the mile unseeded as she did not run that during the regular season, so was placed in the first heat and clocked a personal-best 4:51.18, running by herself up front, winning her heat by 25-plus seconds. No one in second heat, which included the top-seeded competitors, came close, as the top time in that one was 5:06.32. ... In the 3000, pulled away on the final three laps to win in 9:43.33, a margin of 7-plus seconds. ... Started the season by breaking the school indoor record in the 5000 with a 16:09.93 at the Sharon Colyear-Danville Season Opener in Boston. ... Set a personal-best 9:24.80 in the 3000 at the UW Invitational on Jan. 31. ... Ran in five meets altogether.
OUTDOOR -- Finished 7th in the 10,000 meters in 35:32.53 and 9th in the 5000 in 17:01.85 at the NCAA Championships. ... Won her thrid GNAC title in the 5000 meters in a meet-record time of 16:32.51, the final race of her conference career. Placed 3rd in the 1500 in a personal-best 4:33.24. ... Broke the 16-minute mark in the 5000 for the first time when she ran 15:56.94 on April 4 at the Stanford Invitational on April 4 ... Less than two weeks later at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 16, posted her fastest-ever time in the 10,000 with a 33:34.30. ...
Senior (2024): INDOOR – Placed 10th in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Championship, going a personal-best 16:29.98, bouncing back up from a fall with about 400 meters remaining. … Won the 3000 meters at the GNAC Championships in 9:54.80, leading for almost the entire distance. Also ran the 1600-meter leg on the 4th-place distance medley relay. … Got onto the NCAA provisional qualifying list in the 300 with a 9:41.62 at the UW Indoor Preview on Jan. 13. … Effectively put herself into the national meet in the 5000 with a 16:31.43 at the Husky Classic on Feb. 9 in Seattle.
OUTDOOR – Raced to a silver medal in the 10,000 meters at the NCAA Championships on May 23, completing 25 laps around the Welch Stadium overall in Emporia, Kansas in 34:18.07. She raced with the leaders right from the start, and by the time they took the bell, it was just Esvelt and Florence Uwajeneza of West Texas A&M before Uwajeneza pulled away heading up the backstretch. … Came back two days later for her second All-American podium finish of the weekend, placing 7th in the 5000 in 16:54.06. … Won the 5000 at GNACs in 17:06.73, being in complete command by the end of the first lap in Ellensburg on May 11. Earlier that day, came from 5th place around the final turn to take 3rd in the 1500 in 4:41.77. … Put herself into the national top 5 in the 5000 by clocking 16:18.94 at the Stanford Invitational on March 29. … Just two weeks later at the Bryan Clay Invitational on April 11 in Azusa, Calif., did the same thing in the 10,000 with a PB of 33:41.59. … Two weeks after that on April 27 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham, set a personal best of 4:34.73 in the 1500. … Won the 1500 at the Doris Heritage Invitational in Renton on April 5.
Junior (2023): INDOOR – Did not compete due to injury.
OUTDOOR – Placed 3rd in the 5000 meters at the GNAC Championships in 18:28.11. ... After missing the winter indoor season, returned to action at the season-opening Ed Boitano Invitational on March 4 in Tacoma, winning the 1500 in 4:45.73. ... Stuck primarily to that event for the rest of the season except for a 5000 at the Bryan Clay Invitational in Azusa, Calif., on April 14, placing 12th in the Open A Division with an NCAA provisional qualifying time of 16:52.91. ... Came within one-tenth of her 1500 personal-best, clocking 4:39.18 at the regular-season finale Portland Twilight on May 6.
Sophomore (2022): INDOOR – Ran to an All-American 8th-place finish in the 5000 meters at the NCAA Championships with a personal-best time of 16 minutes, 31.12 seconds. ... Won the 3000 (9:50.84) and the 5000 (17:31.71) at the GNAC Championships. ... Ran a 5K on the track for the first time at the UW Invitational on Jan. 28. With the stated goal of wanting to come as close as possible to breaking 17 minutes, Esvelt did so with room to spare, coming across the line in 16:31.74. That was the second-fastest time in SPU indoor history. ... Set a personal-best time of 9:38.12 in the 3000 at the Whitworth Invitational on Feb. 12. ... Made her delayed college indoor debut (the 2020 season was canceled because of the pandemic shutdown) on Dec. 11 at the Spokane Invitational, the inaugural meet inside The Podium, placing 3rd in the mile and 4th in the 3000.
OUTDOOR – Put together a pair of All-American performances at the NCAA Championships in Allendale, Mich. Started off by taking 4th place in the 10,000 in a personal-best time of 33:51.65. That was 29 seconds faster than her previous PB of 34:20.76 at the Mt. Sac Relays in April. Then came back two days later and was 10th in the 500 in 16:40.70. ... Won the 10K (36:32.20) and was 2nd in the 5K (17:14.07) at GNAC. ... Set a PB of 4:39.08 to win the 1500 on March 27 at the Peyton-Shotwell Invitational. ... Got a chance to run her first outdoor mile, clocking 4:53.32 on April 30 at the Ralph Vernacchia Invitational in Bellingham.
Freshman (2021): INDOOR - Season canceled.
OUTDOOR - Placed 7th in the 1500 meters at GNAC with a personal-best time of 4:47.19. That was a drop of more than 9 seconds from her previous PR of 4:56.32 at the Buc Scoring Invite in Spokane on April 30. Focused primarily on the 1500 all season, running it seven times. ... Made her college debut with a 5:10.93 at the Doris Heritage Track Festival on March 20.
West Valley-Spokane High School: On the track, was part of the league championship team as a junior in 2019. She won back-to-back league titles in the 1600 and 3200 in 2018 and 2019. … Ran in a pair of 2A state championship races as a junior in 2019, placing 7th in the 3200 and 8th in the 1600. … Also made the state 3200 as a sophomore, placing 13th . … Team Most Valuable Runner for track in 2016 and cross country in 2017. ... Her cross country career included helping West Valley win three consecutive Washington state trophies, including the Class 2A (medium-small school) championship as a junior in 2018. The other trophies were for 2nd place in 2017 and 4th in 2019. … Ran at the state meet all four years, placing 49th as a freshman, 14th as a sophomore, 23rd as a junior, and 20th as a senior. … Won the GNL District championship as a senior. … Also won four regular-season meets as a senior, along with one as a junior and three as a sophomore. …. … League MVP for cross country in 2019, and distance MVP for track in 2018 and 2019.
Personal: Annika Janice
Esvelt. … Biochemistry major.
Fun facts: Esvelt’s father, Mark, was a track and cross country runner at West Valley, and
still owns the school record in the mile.
Annika’s time of 11:04.30 in the 3200 meters at the 2019 state meet
also is a school record, thus giving the family two spots on the record board. …
Started running in middle school. …
Also enjoys skiing, and previously played softball and soccer. …
If not for running, would try tennis. …
Favorite sports to watch are track and basketball. …
Dumbest movie she ever saw was “Tall Girl.” …
Books she just couldn’t put down were any in the “Harry Potter” series. …
Favorite junk food is ice cream. …
Favorite healthy food is potatoes. …
Favorite TV program is “Agents of Shield.” …
Her dream car is a Jeep. …
Loves to shop for running clothes. …
Easiest subject in school is chemistry. … Says she
doesn’t have a “toughest subject.” …
Her pre-meet ritual is to wear the same type of socks and to wear a bow in her hair. …
If she could invite anyone to dinner, it would be her friend Sophie who passed away. She would serve spaghetti. …
If she could be any action hero, would be The Flash. …
Her friends call her Annie “because it’s easier to shout than
Annika when I’m running by.” …
In 10 years, plans to be doing work that helps people. … Has gone
parasailing in Hawaii.
INDOOR SEASON BESTS
Mile: 4:51.18 (2/18/2025)
3000: 9:24.80 (2/1/2025)
5000: 16:29.98 (3/8/2024)
OUTDOOR PERSONAL BESTS
800: 2:24.87 (4/17/2021)
1500: 4:33.24 (5/10/2025)
Mile: 4:53.32 (4/30/2022)
5000: 15:56.94 (4/4/2025)
10,000: 33:34.30 (4/16/2025)
CAREER RESULTS
