HOKA Signs Canadian NCAA Distance Stars Erin Vringer and Kaiya Robertson to NIL Deals

The stakes for collegiate distance runners have never been higher, and footwear giants are officially treating the NCAA like a professional minor league. HOKA has made a major play for the future of Canadian distance running, signing NCAA standouts Erin Vringer and Kaiya Robertson to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals this September.[1][2]

The dual signings arrive as both 22-year-old athletes enter their final seasons of collegiate eligibility, cashing in on breakout 2025-26 campaigns that elevated their national profiles and put them squarely on the radar of global brands.[1][2]

Vringer, a senior at the University of Utah hailing from Saint John, New Brunswick, announced her partnership with HOKA on September 11. The move marks a historic milestone as the first major NIL deal for a track athlete from her home province.[1][3]

She earned the contract on the back of a relentless 2026 indoor season, where she established herself as a premier collegiate miler and 3,000-meter threat. Vringer anchored Utah's Distance Medley Relay squad to First-Team All-American honors.[4]

She also secured Second-Team All-American honors in the 3,000 meters, setting a massive Utah school record of 8:48.26 at the UW Invite in January.[1][4]

Outdoors, Vringer kept her foot on the gas. She set a New Brunswick U23 and Open record in the 5,000 meters with a time of 15:13.80 at the Bryan Clay Invitational—a mark that ranked third among all Canadians in 2026.[1][3]

"Hoka has been super excited about me as an athlete and very supportive," Vringer said following the announcement. "They were really easy to work with, and they're going to support me really well in my last year at Utah."[1]

Vringer added that she hopes the partnership will support her on the path toward making more Canadian national teams and achieving larger goals post-college.[1]

Just over a week earlier, on September 3, Boise State University star Kaiya Robertson announced her own NIL agreement with HOKA, joining Vringer in the brand's aggressive push into the collegiate ranks.[2]

Robertson, who grew up in Portland, Oregon, but holds Canadian citizenship and competes internationally for Canada, delivered one of the most jaw-dropping performances of the winter indoor season.[2]

Clocking a blistering 4:24.51 in the mile at the Husky Classic in Seattle in February 2026, Robertson shattered the all-conditions Canadian U23 record. She shaved more than four seconds off the previous national U23 mark, which had been held by two-time Olympian Gabriela DeBues-Stafford for a decade.[2]

The outdoor season tested Robertson's resilience. Despite battling shin, ankle, and knee injuries that disrupted her spring training block, she managed to run a personal best of 4:09.17 in the 1,500 meters.[2]

That time set a Boise State program record and punched her ticket to the 2026 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, where she was named an honorable mention All-American and the Mountain West Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year.[2][5]

For Robertson, HOKA's Portland headquarters made the partnership a natural fit. "I'm Canadian, but I live in Portland, so it's a really cool connection," Robertson said. "I was excited that Hoka's from the city I have lived a lot of my life in, plus I really like the shoes."[2]

These deals underscore a massive shift in the sport's economics. Brands like Nike, Brooks, On, and HOKA are no longer waiting for athletes to graduate; they are using NIL agreements to lock in relationships with top-tier talent while they are still wearing their university singlets.[1][2]

For Vringer, the immediate focus shifts to the high-stakes fall cross-country season, where she hopes to build on her 6K personal best of 19:38.20 and chase All-American honors in November.[1]

Robertson's path is slightly more complicated. Under the NCAA's new age-based eligibility model for 2026-27, she is currently ineligible to return to the cross-country course this fall, though she remains fully eligible to lace up her HOKA spikes for the 2027 outdoor track season.[2]