Seattle Pacific senior Vanessa Aniteye said a lot of people doubted her when she decided to return to college track and field last year, two years after becoming a mom to her son Josiah.
“I think a lot of people didn’t think that that was going to be possible,” she said. “After having a baby, it seemed unrealistic. It seemed crazy. So being back was already shocking, I think, to a lot of people. Then, at SPU, I didn’t just get back, I got back better.”
Indeed.
Aniteye, who finished sixth last year in the women’s 400 meters at the NCAA Division II outdoor championships, is the top seed in the 800 at the indoor championships this weekend in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
“Her story is really inspirational,” said Chris Reed, SPU’s associate head coach, who coaches distance runners. “There’s just not that many moms running in the NCAA right now.”
Aniteye grew up as a soccer player in her native Germany, but enjoyed running on the soccer field, where speed was one of her strengths. But it wasn’t until she was 15 and she went to Alaska for a year as an exchange student that she was introduced to track and field.
The father of her host family was a track coach, and he noticed Aniteye running on a treadmill one day and suggested she join the track team.
“I was like, ‘You’re crazy. I think I’m playing soccer,’” Aniteye said. “But I actually played soccer and ran track at the same time. I ran from soccer practice to track practice.”
When both teams made it to the state championships, Aniteye was forced to make a difficult decision. She chose track.
Aniteye joined a track club when she returned to Germany, then returned to Alaska when she got a track scholarship at University of Alaska Anchorage. She starred for three seasons with the Seawolves, and also met men’s track athlete Brandon Nicholson, whom she married.
Aniteye’s track career was halted when she became pregnant, and because of health reasons, she was unable to run or work out during that time.
“In that time away from the sport, I just felt this sense that I wasn’t done,” Aniteye said. “In 2019, I went to nationals and didn’t really perform the way that I wanted to. So deep down, during the whole pregnancy, I knew I really wanted to come back. But I didn’t know how I would be able to do that.”
Josiah spent four weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit after he was born, but Aniteye eventually returned to class and began working herself back into shape, all while taking care of a baby.
“My first workouts, I was still in pain because I wasn’t healed, so I had to really listen to my body,” she said. “It wasn’t what I was used to performance-wise. It wasn’t an easy ride.”
It got better, and after conversations with SPU track coach Karl Lerum, Aniteye decided she wanted to finish her collegiate career with the Falcons. But first she had to convince her husband Brandon, who was born in Alaska and is a commercial fisherman in the summer.
“I think at first he was kind of like, ‘OK this is crazy,’” Aniteye said. “Like we’re moving to a different state for some running, because at that time it wasn’t like I wasn’t putting down crazy marks that anybody could believe what I could do. It was something from within me that I felt called to do.
“So it took a lot of trust and risk-taking for him. It wasn’t like, ‘OK, let’s go to Seattle.’ It was definitely challenging for the two of us. But I think if you asked him now, he would definitely tell you that it exceeded what he thought was possible.”
Aniteye finished up her outdoor track eligibility last spring, setting the school record in the 400 three times. Lerum said Aniteye was fantastic in finishing sixth at nationals, but he and Reed thought Aniteye might be able to attain even greater success in the 800.
“I think the first thing that made me excited for her to explore the 800 was she actually enjoys training,” Lerum said. “It sounds funny, but not all sprinters like to run. But she does. She enjoys running and she enjoys training, and she obviously has the tools that you need to be successful on the track. But her mindset is unusual for a sprinter.”
Aniteye went along with the change, but part of the deal was that she would run cross country in the fall to get ready for running the 800 in the indoor track season.
Aniteye said she didn’t love cross country, finding it difficult and “very mentally challenging, but I worked extremely hard on it.”
That paid off, and her top time this season of 2 minutes, 7.53 seconds leads Division II entering this weekend’s nationals. The preliminary round is Friday and the final is Saturday.
Aniteye said Josiah, who turns 3 in May, is too young to fully understand what his mom is doing, but he has fun going to meets.
“He encourages me a lot, because he is so little, but actually so much stronger than me,” Aniteye said. “He is a fighter in all senses.”
Aniteye, who will receive her Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science this month, said it is important for her to be a role model for Josiah, but she wants to be a role model for moms in general.
Aniteye was inspired by Allyson Felix, the U.S. track star who won a gold medal and a bronze medal at the 2021 Olympics after becoming a mom.
“I can’t even put it into words how much her story helped me and how much I was encouraged by her,” Aniteye said of Felix. “I definitely want to be that for younger women as well.”
Aniteye said her accomplishments help open the door for her to tell her story. A national title would certainly be a great addition to that story.
Along the way, she has inspired coaches and teammates, even though Reed doesn’t believe her teammates will fully comprehend what she has done until they have children.
“I just find it really inspiring what she’s been able to do,” Reed said. “Particularly this season, taking the challenge of adding a new event, and now she’s going into the national championship ranked number one. So that shows the perseverance she has and the commitment she has to make the most of her abilities.”
Aniteye hopes her accomplishments will serve as a life lesson for Josiah.
“We had to overcome so many things, and to be able to do what I did, I’m just grateful for that,” she said. “I’ll definitely show him that you can overcome a lot of adversity, that you can prove people wrong and just work for your dreams.”