Ohio Northern alum Emily Richards to compete in the 800 meters Thursday at USATF Outdoor Championships

By Wes Mayberry

| USATF site | Live Results | Heat Sheets |

EUGENE, Ore. — Ohio Northern alum and current cross country and track and field assistant coach Emily Richards is competing in the 800-meter run on Thursday at the 2023 USATF Outdoor Championships at Hayward Field.

Thursday marked the opening day for the 2023 Championships, which run through Sunday.

The first round of the women's 800 meters, which features four heats with eight runners each, is scheduled for 6:18 p.m. Eastern Time and can be viewed live on USATF.tv.

Richards, who is under contract with running apparel brand Tracksmith and is coached by ONU cross country and track and field head coach Jason Maus, is running in Lane 8 in the second heat.

The top three finishers in each heat and the next four fastest times will advance to the two-heat semifinal round, which is scheduled for 10:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday.

The top three finishers in each of the two semifinal heats and next two fastest times will advance to the finals, which is scheduled for 9:18 p.m. Eastern Time on Sunday.

A 2018 graduate of ONU, Richards has served as an assistant coach at the school since July 2020 and is in her sixth season under contract as a professional runner.

She was a nine-time NCAA Division III national champion and a 13-time All-American during her four seasons at ONU from 2015 to 2018. She won the 800-meter dash title five times and the 1,500-meter dash four times. She was also an All-American in the 800 and the 3,000-meter run in track and field and was an All-American in cross country, finishing ninth at the 2017 NCAA Division III Cross Country Championships.

Richards was also a First Team Academic All-American and was ONU's female Clyde Lamb Award honoree in 2018.

In 2022, she qualified for both the indoor and outdoor USATF Championships and made the outdoor semifinal in the 800 meters.