DES MOINES, Iowa — Just a few hours prior to running in the first round of the 2018 USATF Outdoor Championships on Saturday, Ohio Northern alum Emily Richards(Delaware/Hayes) signed a professional contract with HOKA NY-NJ Track Club.

Richards competed wearing a blue and yellow HOKA uniform in the first round after the flurry of events that occurred over the past two days that resulted in Richards' signing.

"I am so excited for Emily," ONU head coach Jason Maus said. "Not many D3 athletes get the opportunity to compete on the professional level. It was a whirl-wind of activity in the past few days. I think she really liked the HOKA coaches and athletes and I can't wait to watch and follow her professional career as it develops."

In her race on Thursday, she finished fourth in her heat and 13th overall in 2:03.35 in the first round of the women's 800-meter run on Thursday afternoon at Drake Stadium.

The top three finishers in each of the four first round heats, plus the next four best times advanced to the second round.

She advanced as the second-fastest of the next four top times and will compete in the second round on Friday at 6:50 pm (7:50 EDT). The top four times in each of the eight-women heats will advance to Sunday's finals, which will be broadcast nationally on NBC.

Maus will continue to serve as Richards' coach through the USATF Championships.

The 9-time NCAA Division III Champion, 13-time All-American and two-time Academic All-American is making her second appearance at the yearly American championships meet in the 800-meter run.

Richards entered the meet ranked fifth nationally and 48th in the world in the event with a season-best time of 2:00.67, which she ran at the Music City Classic in Nashville in June.

Last season, Richards reached the finals and finished eighth in 2:01.74.

She is the fastest collegian in the event among all divisions this season and owns the NCAA Division III record in the event with a 2:00.62 clocking in 2017.

Richards graduated from Ohio Northern with a degree in chemistry this May.

Headed by Frank 'Gag' Gagliano, HOKA NJNYTC is training and competing some of the top middle distance athletes in the world.

Following many years in New Jersey, the club moved headquarters to Westchester, NY in 2017 and now trains out of The Masters School in Dobbs Ferry, N.Y., Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx, The New York Armory in New York City, and Rockefeller State Park in Pleasantville.

"HOKA NJNYTC has a great and talented group of middle distance women who I look forward to training with," Richards said. "I'll never forget the way Coach Gag's face lit up the first time I met him. That alone made me feel confident that I had found someone who believes in and cares about me and who will help me pursue my biggest dreams."Facebook