Schweizer Named SEC Indoor Track & Field Women’s Runner of the Year, Kempfer Earns All-SEC Honor
3/6/2017 12:35:00 PM | Track & Field
Schweizer and Kempfer earn All-SEC recognition
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Track and Field junior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) was named the Southeastern Conference Indoor Track and Field Women's Runner of the Year, announced by the organization on Monday. Schweizer earned All-SEC First Team honors for her performance at the 2017 SEC Indoor Track & Field Championships, while redshirt sophomore Jamie Kempfer (Festus, Mo.) earned All-SEC Second Team honors following a third place finish in the 5,000m run.
Schweizer, the 2016 NCAA Cross Country National Champion has carried her stellar cross country season over into the 2017 indoor season, culminating in two conference titles at the SEC Indoor Track and Field Championships (Feb. 24-25). Schweizer was named the Cliff Harper Trophy winner at the meet for being the top female scorer (20 pts), marking the first time a Mizzou athlete, male or female, has won the award. The Tiger junior captured the 3,000m run conference title on the first day of competition, finishing with a time of 9:18.32, then won the mile run on the second day of competition, crossing the finish line at 4:37.44. With conference titles in the mile run and 3,000m run, Schweizer became the first Mizzou athlete to capture two individual titles at a conference meet since 1989 when Teri LeBlanc won the Big 8 Outdoor 100m hurdles and heptathlon.
Just two short weeks after capturing a NCAA National Championship in cross country, Schweizer kicked off her indoor season by competing in the 5,000m run at the Boston University Season Opener meet on Dec. 3. Schweizer smashed the Mizzou indoor 5,000m run program record by finishing at 15:37.40, which at the time stood as the 15th-fastest indoor 5,000m run time in indoor collegiate history. Schweizer surpassed the previous school record of 16:33.30, which was set by Susan Bliss in 1990. In addition to the school record in the indoor 5K, Schweizer also now holds the second-fastest time in program history in the mile run and 3,000m run. Schweizer posted a time of 4:35.61 in the mile run at the Razorback Invitational on Jan. 28 and a time of 9:06.60 in the 3,000m run at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 10, winning both events.
The distance specialist's times in the 5K (15:37.40), 3K (9:06.60) and mile run (4:35.61) currently rank fourth, 11th and 13th, respectively, in the nation this season. She will compete in the 3,000m run and the 5,000m run at the 2017 NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships, March 10-11 in College Station, Texas.
Kempfer finished third in the 5,000m run at the SEC Indoor meet with a time of 16:10.15, finishing just seconds off her personal best in the race. Two weeks prior, Kempfer crossed the finish line at 16:05.23 in the 5,000m run at the Iowa State Classic on Feb. 10, a personal record time which ranks second in indoor program history. On Jan. 14, Kempfer posted the fifth-fastest 3,000m run time in indoor program history by finishing at 9:26.36.
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