Finding grand success in college

She throws the discus and shot and wants to add the hammer, despite the coronavirus throwing in the towel on this season.

Emma Richards, a 2018 Ozaukee High School graduate with multiple state titles, came off a Division II second-team All-American freshman season with high hopes as a sophomore at Grand Valley State in Allendale, Mich., a city not much farther from Lake Michigan than Fredonia, albeit on the other side.

Track and field starts earlier in college, right after winter break in January. Richards was redshirted for the indoor season with aspirations of qualifying for national competition in the outdoor season. Grand Valley State was to host the meet this year and in 2021.

Those plans were dashed as the coronavirus closed schools, thus eliminating sports seasons.

But it doesn’t take away from Richards’ standout freshman year.

The national competition takes a maximum of 20 competitors per event, she said. Richards hit the qualifying mark in discus, reaching 46.97 meters, at the Gorilla Classic in Kansas April 13..

“The funny thing is I had no ideas that I did it,” she said. “Learning meters is kind of difficult. I’m used to feet in high school.”

On May 3, Richards took second in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Meet at home with a throw of 47.92 meters. The Grand Valley State women’s team won its 20th straight title.

On May 10, Richards excelled at the Eagle Open at the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, which is known as one of several last-chance meets for competitors to improve their positions.

Richards did just that, hitting a personal-record 49.73 meters (163 feet, 2 inches), putting her in 16th place in Division 2 and securing her spot at the national competition.

“It was really fun to go back to La Crosse after having been there the last three years for state,” she said.

That meet turned out to be more than just a track and field competition.

Richards’ brother Keegan, a thrower for UW-Whitewater who coached Emma in high school, was at the meet for his senior season. After competing together once in high school, it was the only time the two got to compete in the same meet in college.

Then came national competition at Texas A&M in Kingsville. Richards remembers the flight.

“It was in the 30s when we left (Michigan), and when we got down to Kingsville it was at least 90, but with the humidity it felt like it was over 100,” she said.

The team got off the plane, ate, drove 90 minutes to Kingsville, dropped off their stuff and went right to the track to train.

Despite the sudden 70-degree change, the hot weather provided one advantage: loosening muscles.

“That was very easy,” Richards said.

She got to meet throwers from across the country from teams she had never seen.

“The throwers as a group tend to be very personable,” she said.

The out-of-towners quizzed the local athletes about the best places to eat in the town of 26,000 people.

When it came time to compete, Richards stepped up.

She moved up from her No. 16 seed to crack the top 10 with a throw of 48.6 meters. That made her a second-team All-American.

Grand Valley State scored 47.5 points, which was good for third place and a spot on the podium.

The Lakers had exclusively trained for about a month. Their semester ended in April, but track and field athletes stay on campus until the season is complete.

“It’s fun to just fully focus on it,” Richards said. “During the school year, you’ve got school, practice, lifting and running around getting stuff done.”

Since mid-March this year, Richards has been on her own for training since school shifted online. The conference isn’t allowing coaches any in-person contact or requirements for their athletes to train.

“It’s kind of a unique situation. I have to be instigating everything with him (my coach),” Richards said.

Richards has a discus and shot, as well as a “makeshift hammer” — a wire with chains on the end so it doesn’t dent the ground as much.

“I think my parents are OK with that,” she said.

Training with her team starts at the beginning of school in September.

Richards is happy to add a third throwing event to her repertoire. So far, discus is her favorite. She won two state titles in the event in high school, as well as one in shot put.

“It’s like a dance in a way when you’re doing it — for me especially. I have longer arms,” she said. “When I throw the disc, it’s using every muscle that I have.”

Richards is looking for a job this summer, preferably one that relates to her major of wildlife biology. Richards has a lifelong love of animals and wants to support threatened and endangered species, perhaps working for the Department of

Natural Resources or other government agency. She is even considering working overseas since she loves elephants.

“I’m up for anything as long as I get to help the wildlife,” she said.

Richards was inspired by her mother, who got a degree in environmental education and worked at Riveredge Nature Center.

“I went there a lot when I was little. That’s how my love for the outdoors came about,” she said.