As the school year draws to a close, many Brewers are playing in their final games wearing the burgundy and gray, marking the end of their collegiate careers. Although the practices, lifts and long bus rides have ended, the memories, lessons learned and relationships that shaped their college experience will echo in eternity. In this two-part series, we sat down with four senior student-athletes to hear their experiences and let them reflect on what being a student-athlete at Vassar means to them. In the first of two parts, Lindsey Nihei from women’s soccer and Jacob Sellitti from men’s track and field shared with us careers of highs and lows and ultimately fruitful endings.
Lindsey Nihei ’26, from Honolulu, Hawaii, captained the women’s soccer team to a program record of 16 wins and their first-ever Liberty League Championship this past fall. But the journey to the top of the mountain was not always clear. Nihei arrived on campus as part of the first recruiting class of the Coach Keith Simons era, and right away, it was clear that the Class of 2026 was special. Nihei recalled struggling to find her place on the team during that first fall at Vassar, coming from a different background halfway across the globe. “I thought they were all really good and really talented, and I was really scared because I had never gone to as high of a level in the club scene as they had,” she said of her teammates. Nihei did not see significant playing time during her first year in Poughkeepsie but was confident she could win the starting role during her sophomore year.
However, things would get worse before they would get better. As a sophomore, Nihei faced one of the most difficult stretches of her career: The starting role eluded her once again, she missed an opportunity for a leadership role on the team and was sidelined with a back injury. “I didn’t really have that much high hope for the rest of my career,” she admitted. However, not all hope was lost. Over the summer leading into her junior year, Nihei recovered from her back injury and trained with some of her old club teammates. Nihei recalled that she started to have fun playing soccer again. Back on campus, opportunities presented themselves to the junior defender as teammates were sidelined with injuries, and the starting job at center back opened up. Finally breaking into the starting XI, Nihei seized the moment, starting 20 games that season and leading the team in minutes played. With Nihei anchoring the defense, the Brewers earned a bid to the NCAA tournament before falling to Christopher Newport University in the second round. Nihei was named to the All-Liberty League Third Team for her efforts.
From there, “The Flyin’ Hawaiian” soared higher. As a senior, Nihei was named a team captain and started in 19 games, leading the Brewers back to the NCAA tournament and winning the Liberty League, earning the Liberty League Championship’ Most Outstanding Performer award in the process. “We had been working towards it for so long, and I never honestly thought that we would win anything when I was a freshman. So it was a really nice surprise,” she remarked. Nihei was also named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Region III Second Team and the All-Liberty League First Team.
On and off the pitch, there was one constant during Nihei’s career: her teammates. When reflecting on her time at Vassar, Nihei emphasized the culture the team built during her four years. “We really just try to play for each other and be there for each other.” Years from now, Nihei knows exactly what will stay with her. “I’m definitely gonna remember my teammates and my friends the most, and the feeling that we had being together and winning together. It was just so fun… I’m not gonna remember any of the negative things, just the good times.”
Jacob Sellitti ’26 had a much shorter trip to campus than his classmate Nihei, but a similar experience acclimating to Vassar Athletics. Sellitti is from Dobbs Ferry, New York, and has ascended to being one of the captains of the track and field team after walking on to the team as a first-year. Sellitti first started running track as a senior in high school after primarily playing baseball for much of his childhood. Like many of us, Sellitti chose Vassar for its academic reputation and welcoming feeling: “I visited on admitted students day and went on some tours since I lived nearby… It really felt like a place I could imagine myself living.” But after two months on campus, something was missing from Sellitti’s life: sports. “I walked on when I got here after a few weeks of kind of going crazy, of not playing sports for the first time in my life. And so going into it, I really didn’t have any expectations. I was sort of looking to get the same thing out of it that I got in high school, just something fun to do, something to sort of occupy my time, but it really has turned into so much more after four years,” he said. It was months before Sellitti was fully integrated into the team, but in a sport that spans the entire year, he had time to find his stride.
Sellitti has emerged as a short-distance runner, meaning his primary events include the 60-meter, 100-meter and 200-meter distances. Events like these are typically decided by tenths or hundredths of a second, and year-over-year improvement is measured similarly. For Sellitti, his objective this season is running a sub-23-second 200m sprint, a time just seven-hundredths of a second faster than his personal best last season. While it is easy to get absorbed in the solitary nature of running, he was clear that Vassar track and field is just as much a team sport as any. Head Coach Joe Reed joined Vassar in August 2021 and has instilled a culture of top-down leading by example. “We’ve seen a huge shift in the culture and the team dynamic and just our priorities and focus as a team,” said Sellitti. “We have more people in the weight room than we’ve ever had before. We have more people cheering each other on at meets.” He continued, “I think that shift has been really amazing to see. I think we’ve done a great job of showing everyone this is just what we do.” The senior captain reflected the focused sense of purpose: “When you’re running…it’s only you that has to deal with those results. If it’s a good time or a bad time, you’re still here for the team. You’re still here for the name on your chest, and that’s just been a great shift.”
As he reflects on his athletic career at Vassar—which is yet to conclude, with track events continuing through May—Sellitti comfortably declared with a smile that his time running at Vassar was nothing short of fulfilling. Having arrived as a walk-on, Sellitti is thankful to have learned from the team leaders at the time. “The people in the class above us and the class above…those are the people who really introduced me to the sport and introduced me to the team culture. And so that’s definitely been relationships that I will look back on and cherish,” he said. And now, as a team leader himself, he is proud to be guiding the next wave of young Brewers. “Now, as a captain, as someone who can kind of recruit the next class and help other people get to where I’m at, it’s really great to see people who were in the same situation I was in, not really sure what to get out of it [track and field] let them find their way,” he concluded. “It’s been really meaningful to find something new that I can compete at, and push myself towards but also to help other people do the same.”
Lindsey and Jacob’s stories highlight the Vassar student-athlete experience as far more than wins and losses or personal bests, but learning and growing and ultimately inspiring others.
Part Two of the series will be published next week, featuring Addie Lee ’26 of the baseball team and Sierra McDermed ’26 of the women’s basketball team.