Mizzou’s Schweizer Named SEC Women’s Runner of the Year
11/8/2016 10:17:00 AM | Cross Country
Schweizer became Mizzou’s first conference champion since 1997 with a SEC women’s 6K Title
COLUMBIA, Mo. – As Mizzou Cross Country gears up for the NCAA Midwest Regional, junior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) was named the Southeastern Conference Cross Country Women's Runner of the Year, announced by the conference office on Tuesday. Schweizer becomes the first Tiger in Cross Country program history to win a conference athlete of the year award.
Schweizer claimed the women's 6,000m SEC Championship on Oct. 28, becoming the first Tiger to capture an individual cross country championship since Erin Windler took home the Big 12 5K Title in 1997. The win was Schweizer's third first-place finish at a meet this season after winning the Commodore Classic on Sept. 17 and the Chile Pepper Festival on Oct. 1.
The Mizzou junior has helped lead the Mizzou women to one of its most successful seasons in the last decade under third-year coach Marc Burns. The Tigers currently rank fourth in the NCAA Midwest Region and finished third overall at the SEC Championships, their highest finish at a conference meet since finishing second at the 2004 Big 12 Championships. Schweizer's fourth-place finish at the Pre-National Invitational on Oct. 15 helped Mizzou finish 12th at the meet, 21 spots higher than when the Tigers finished 33rd in 2015.
Earlier this season, Schweizer became Mizzou Cross Country's first three-time single-season recipient of a conference athlete of the week award after being named SEC Runner of the Week following her two meet wins and top-five finish at Pre-Nationals. She surpasses Amanda Bales, who won Big 12 conference honors twice in 2003. Schweizer is now tied for second in program history with three conference athlete of the week honors, trailing Bales, who won four from 2002-04.
of the runner-up at the 2016 SEC Championships
Schweizer has set and reset personal-records in each of the four meets she has competed in during the season. First, she claimed victory at the Commodore Classic, finishing the 5,000m race with a time of 16:46.7, 13 seconds faster than her previous best. Schweizer then re-set her 5,000m PR at the Chile Pepper Festival, crossing the finish line first overall at 16:09.83. At the Pre-National Invitational, she posted a time of 20:14.0 in the 6,000m race, nine seconds faster than her previous 6K PR time set at the 2015 SEC Championships. She finally outdid herself again in this year's SEC Championships, finishing the 6K race at 20:10.5.
The distance specialist's tremendous junior campaign has only improved her already impressive resume, which includes being named the 2014 SEC Cross Country Freshman of the Year, earning a 2015 All-SEC Second Team selection and All-America honors at the 2015 NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships after a third-place finish in the 5000m.
Schweizer looks to qualify for the NCAA Championships for the second time in her career at the NCAA Midwest Regional on Friday, Nov. 11, in Iowa City, Iowa. As a true freshman, Schweizer competed in the 2014 NCAA Championships, finishing 155th overall.
For all the latest on Mizzou Cross Country and Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
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