Run fast

SUU’s Kelly Richards tales plenty
of time to run, plus other things.

By DAVID DeMILLE
UNIVERSITY JOURNAL

As the SUU women’s cross country team fights for a fifth consecutive Mid-Continent Conference title this season, the ’Birds’ only senior is providing leadership and keeping busy in the meantime.
Kelly Richards, who has a degree in physical education and is currently working towards a biology minor, knows how important running can be.
“I’ve had to run from dogs, siblings, everything. It’s good to be able to get away.”
She also knows that although the Thunderbirds are favored to win the championship again, it won’t come without effort.
“We had a really good summer of training,” Richards said. “We don’t want to waste it. We can’t let the title seem a given. We have to stick to our goals, put any egos aside and keep working.”
Richards will do her part to keep the team on the right track, acting as a team leader and one of the top runners in the conference. Since she came to SUU from Kearns, Richards has done nothing but win conference titles, and she doesn’t expect the winning to stop now. Her best times as a member of the team have come from the feeling of being on top after the Mid-Con meet.
“The best was winning last year,” Richards said. “We just totally dominated, and we’d like to do the same thing again. It felt great.”
Richards is used to winning, especially after a successful stint at Kearns High School. Richards is the current state record-holder in the 400-meters (55.3, fast enough to escape most dogs), the 4x800-m and the medley relay.
Richards was able to do all of this despite never running before her sophomore year.
“I never really ran before,” she said. “I was playing volleyball, but our program wasn’t that great, so it wasn’t likely that I’d get a scholarship. The cross country coach said he could get me one and he was right. I worked hard and ended up having a lot of fun.”
Richards also accomplished everything with the last name Snodgrass, given to her by her parents Jack and Elizabeth to match their last names. It changed when she married SUU pole-vaulter Don Richards, enhancing the chances of athletic children.
Family was always important to Richards, growing up in the Kearns area with two brothers and two sisters.
She came to southern Utah after some advise from her cross country coach, who knew SUU coach Eric Houle and realized Richards’ high amount of potential.
After the visit to SUU, Richards was hooked.
“It just felt good,” she said. “Something was right about being here. My coach knew coach Houle, and it seemed like the right situation.

  

SUU’s Kelly Richards heads down the stretch during last season’s Mid-Continent Conference Championships. Richards and the Thunderbirds won conference for the fourth straight year and are looking to win again this season.
FOR THE JOURNAL

Thus far, after a marriage, a degree and four conference titles, the move has worked out, and Richards is well aware of the role Houle and the other cross country coaches have played in her plentiful success.
“The coaches have really made this experience the best,” she said. “It’s been so much fun. We’re really a big happy group of best friends.”
Running is hard work, and to keep SUU’s status as the best running program in the conference demands plenty of determination.
“It’s hard,” Richards said. “There’s a lot of times when you just want to kick back and just maintain. The coaches know how to get us better, and they’re always thinking of ways to motivate us. Sometimes you think you’re doing well and you don’t need to improve, but you have to keep working.”
One of the ways to relieve some of the stress is to get involved in other things, and Richards went straight to the demanding, learning golf.
“I’ve been taking a class,” she said. “I’m really getting better. I guess practice makes perfect!”
Richards is also very funny.
She enjoys to crochet, and she loves to listen to her favorite singer, Harry Connick Jr.
“I don’t want to listen to anything angry,” she said.
After her time at SUU, Richards will likely head to nursing school in Reno.
Until then, SUU has a capable runner and leader in its only senior.
The ’Birds head to Notre Dame this weekend for a meet, and Richards is sure to be near the front with her teammates as SUU continues its impressive season.