Emily Richards wins national titles in 800 and 1-mile runs, leads Women's Track & Field to fifth place finish at NCAA III Championships Meet

By Caleb Scott

NAPERVILLE, Ill. — Junior Emily Richards (Delaware/Hayes) became the first athlete in Ohio Northern school history to win titles in two events at the same NCAA Championship meet on Saturday afternoon at the NCAA Div. III Indoor Track & Field Championships at North Central (Ill.) College.

The Polar Bears finished tied for fifth place with 26 points in the team standings.

After qualifying for both the 800-meter run and 1-mile run finals on Friday afternoon, Richards opened Day 2 of the meet with a first place finish in the 1-mile run in 4:51.51, beating the next closest competitor by nearly three seconds. 

After a two hour rest, Richards returned to the track where she completed the 1-mile and 800-meter run sweep and claimed the National Title in the 800-meter run in 2:10.38.

Richards became the first Div. III athlete to win two titles in two events at the National Meet since 2012.

"Today was just Emily being Emily," said head coach Jason Maus. "This was an outstanding day for her and we couldn't be happier with what she was able to accomplish. She had two really similar races and put herself in good positions in both races to close out. She ties Jimmy O'Brien's record with 3-national titles and that is an incredible feat."

"I'm just really excited," said Richards. "I didn't have time to be very excited about winning the 1-mile because I knew I had to focus and get ready for the next race. As soon as I crossed the finished line in the 800 I was so happy. It's really cool to be able to rewrite the record books at ONU after so many great athletes have competed here. I really want to be able to do this with a relay team now and try to set some national records."

Senior Kelsey Commager (Maumee) also competed for ONU on the second day of the meet as she competed in the triple jump.

The senior posted a 12th place finish in the triple jump with a leap of 37' 5.75".

"Kelsey got us off to a great start today," said Maus. She came in with the 14th best jump in the country and ended up finishing 12th. Its always great to see improvements. She handled her first national meet very well and really jumped well in a really competitive field. Being able to experience something like this will really help her prepare for the outdoor season and stay hungry to finish even better outdoors."

The Polar Bears finished fifth in the team standings, marking the best finish Northern has finished in school history.

"Talk about a big deal," said Maus. "What Emily did was amazing, but to see this team grow this much and be able to compete on a national level is amazing. These girls have really shown that they are prepared for this stage and that they can compete with the best of the best."