Karissa Schweizer

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Karissa Schweizer
5000 m: 15:11.56 i (Boston
2019)
Medal record
Women's athletics
Representing the  United States

Karissa Schweizer (born May 4, 1996) is an American

long-distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the women's 4x1500 meters relay. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events finishing 11th and 12th, respectively. In 2020, she set the indoor 3000 meters American Record with a time of 8:25.70.[1]

Representing the

2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships and holds five other NCAA individual championship titles including being the two-time NCAA Champion in the 5000 meters event.[2]

Early career

Schweizer grew up in Urbandale, Iowa and attended Dowling Catholic High School. She is the daughter of Mike and Kathy (Petricka) Schweizer, both of whom had successful collegiate track careers at Mankato State, with her father earning All-American honors. Karissa's grandfather, Frank Schweizer, was a NCAA Division II All-American runner at Mankato State. He coached track at Dowling Catholic High School for over four decades but retired before Karissa began her high school career. Her family has a rich running heritage at Dowling with her father and uncles, Steve and Doug, running track for the school. Her siblings Kelsey and Ryan also ran for Dowling, with Ryan winning eight state championships including a swimming title. He also ran a 3:49.04 PR in the 1500m to earn him a 3rd at the 2017 USA Track and Field Junior Championships. He is a member of the University of Notre Dame's track team. Karissa's cousins Alexis and Tyler ran cross-country for Dowling and a younger cousin, Lily, competed in 5th-grade track at Saint Francis.[3][4]

Karissa never won an individual state or national cross-country title while at Dowling, never qualified for the

IAHSAA championships.[5][6]

Collegiate career (2014-2018)

Recruited to the

5000 m at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[8]

The following cross country season, Schweizer was not considered a favorite for the individual NCAA title.[9] Despite this, Schweizer defeated favorites Erin Finn and Anna Rohrer to win the 6 kilometer race in 19:41.6, becoming the first female national champion in any sport in Missouri Tigers history.[9][10]

Schweizer ran the

5000 m to win her third national collegiate title.[11]

Despite victories at the 2017 NCAA Midwest Region and

2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, finishing 11th.[8] That following indoor season, she completed her first title defense by winning the 5000m at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, in addition to a 3000m victory.[12]

She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female cross country runner in 2017.[13][14]

It was also at this time that Schweizer began competing at higher-profile invitational meets. At the 2018

NCAA indoor championship gold, a silver and two bronze medals.[18]

Professional career

Josette Norris, Lauren Paquette
and Schweizer competing at the US Olympic Trials in 2021

Schweizer signed professionally with the Bowerman Track Club in 2018.[19]

Schweizer, running the fastest time 5K in the U.S. during the summer season, recorded a personal best 15:01.63 during a win at the Sunset Tour on July 10, 2019, in Azusa, California.[20]

On February 28, 2020, at

Mary Slaney's outdoor record of 8:25.83, set in 1985.[21]

On July 10, 2020, Schweizer finished second to Shelby Houlihan in a 5000 m race conducted by the Bowerman Track Club with a new personal best of 14:26.34. Houlihan won the race in a new American Record of 14:23.92. Schweizer's time beat Houlihan's former American Record of 14:34.45 and made her the 14th fastest performer of all time.

On July 23, 2020, Schweizer set a new world leading time in addition to a new personal best in the 1500m, at 4:00.02, which made her the 8th fastest American to ever run the event, finishing in front of Colleen Quigley and Courtney Frerichs in 4:03.98 and 4:07.39, respectively.

On July 31, 2020, Schweizer, along with Colleen Quigley, Elise Cranny and Shelby Houlihan established a World Record in the women's 4x1500 meters relay with a time of 16:27.02, eclipsing the previous World Record of 16:33.58 set by a quarter of Kenyan runners on May 25, 2014. The record was ratified in December 2020,[22][23]

On June 21, 2021, in 94-degree heat in Eugene, Oregon, Schweitzer finished 0.3 seconds behind Bowerman Track Club teammate Elise Cranny in the 5000m, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team with a 15:28.11. Cranny had run the last 400 meters in 63.72 seconds.[24] Schweitzer had Achilles surgery that fall.[25]

On May 27, 2022, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, competing in the 10,000m event, Schweitzer and Alicia Monson ran together for the last 5,000 meters, which they covered in under 15 minutes. Schweitzer edged Monson by a step crossing the finish line in 30:49.56. It qualified both for the World Athletics Championships United States team to be held in Eugene, Oregon.[25]

Competition record

Year Competition Venue Position Event Notes
Major international competitions
2019 World Cross Country Championships
Aarhus, Denmark
 56th 10 km 40:04[26]
World Championships
Doha, Qatar
 9th 5000 m 14:45.18[27]
2021 Olympic Games
Tokyo, Japan
 12th 10,000 m 31:19.96
2022 World Championships Eugene, United States 11th (h) 5000 m 14:53.69[28]
9th 10,000 m 30:18.05
Domestic competitions
2015 United States Junior Championships Eugene, Oregon 3rd
3000m
 9:45.59
2016
NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
 Eugene, Oregon 3rd
5000m
 16:02.82
NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship
 Terre Haute, Indiana 1st 6 km 19:42
2017
NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships
 College Station, Texas 2nd
3000m
 9:09.33
1st
5000m
 15:19.14
2017
NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
 Eugene, Oregon 1st
5000m
 15:38.93
2017 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Sacramento, California 4th
5000m
 15:18.69
NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship
 Louisville, Kentucky 11th 6 km 19:48
2018
NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships
 College Station, Texas 1st
3000m
 8:53.36
1st
5000m
 15:43.23
NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships
 Eugene, Oregon 3rd
10000m
 32:14.94
1st
5000m
 15:41.58
2018 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships Des Moines, Iowa 3rd
5000m
 15:34.31
2019 2019 USA Cross Country Championships Apalachee Regiional Park, Florida 7th
10 km
 33:29
2021
2020 United States Olympic Trials
 Eugene, Oregon 2nd
5000m
 15:28.11
2022 2022 World Athletics Championships Trials Eugene, Oregon 1st
10000m
 30:49.56[25]

References

  1. ^ Taylor Dutch (February 28, 2020). "Karissa Schweizer Shatters the 3,000-Meter American Record in Boston". Runner's World. Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  2. ^ a b "As collegiate career ends, Karissa Schweizer reigns as most decorated Missouri athlete in school history".
  3. Des Moines Register
    , John Naughton, September 22, 2017. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  4. ^ "Ryan Schweizer at Notre Dame". Track & Field Results Reporting System (TFRRS). Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  5. ^ "The Progression of Surprise NCAA Champion Karissa Schweizer".
  6. ^ "Karissa Schweizer - 2018 Track & Field Roster - University of Missouri".
  7. ^ "2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country - 11/22/2014" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-05-08.
  8. ^ a b c Karissa Schweizer profile at TFRRS
  9. ^ a b "8 Things to Know About the Surprise Women's College Cross-Country Champion". 23 November 2016.
  10. ^ "Mizzou's Karissa Schweizer wins NCAA cross country championship". 21 November 2016.
  11. ^ "Mizzou's Karissa Schweizer dominates NCAA 5K for third national title".
  12. ^ "Favorites Justyn Knight and Karissa Schweizer Win 2018 NCAA Indoor 5000 Crowns".
  13. ^ "Schweizer named Honda Sport Award winner". www.secsports.com. Retrieved 2020-03-28.
  14. ^ "Schweizer of the University of Missouri Named the Honda Sport Award Winner for Cross Country". CWSA. 2016-12-07. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  15. ^ "Q&A with NCAA Champion Karissa Schweizer on the 5,000m, Injuries and Career Outlook".
  16. ^ "Schweizer Sets Collegiate Record in 3000m Run at Millrose Games". 3 February 2018.
  17. Des Moines Register
    , June 7, 2018. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
  18. ^ Mizzou's Schweizer goes out on top, captures sixth national title, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Dave Matter, June 9, 2018. Retrieved June 10, 2018.
  19. ^ "Schweizer Inks Professional Contract with Nike/Bowerman Track Club". University of Missouri Athletics. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 2020-03-08.
  20. Des Moines Register
    , Tommy Birch, July 24, 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  21. Track and Field News
    , February 2020. Retrieved March 4, 2020.
  22. ^ .Bowerman women set new World Record in 1500m relay
  23. ^ USA women's 4x1500m world record ratified
  24. Runners World
    , Sarah Lorge Butler, June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021.
  25. ^ a b c Karissa Schweizer wins women's 10,000 at Prefontaine Classic; Natosha Rogers nabs final spot on national team, The Oregonian, James Crepea, May 28, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.
  26. IAAF
  27. ^ Karissa Schweizer at Tilastopaja (registration required)
  28. ^ Did not finish in the final

External links

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