| Schweizer Goes for National Title No. 4 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MEET | LOCATION | DAY | TIME (CT) | STREAM |
| NCAA Cross Country Championships | Louisville, Ky, | Saturday, Nov. 18 | 9:45 AM CT (Women's 6k) | FloTrack |
COLUMBIA, MO. – Mizzou Cross Country senior standout Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) will conclude her outstanding senior campaign Saturday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. The 2016 NCAA Champion will look to become just the seventh women in NCAA history to win multiple NCAA Cross Country titles, and the sixth to repeat in back-to-back years.
Schweizer would be in a company all on her own if she were to repeat as NCAA Champion, as she is currently tied with former Mizzou wrestler J'den Cox for the most NCAA titles in Mizzou history with three.
The women's race is slated to begin at 9:45 a.m. (CT) Saturday at E.P. Tom Sawyer State Park, with the men's race to follow at 10:45 a.m. (CT). A live stream of the event will be available through FloTrack.org or a fee.
In her phenomenal senior campaign, Schweizer has captured back-to-back titles at the SEC Championships and the NCAA Midwest Regional over the last month. She captured her second consecutive conference title on Oct. 27, in Athens, Ga., as she finished with a 6K time of 19:36.3, an incredible 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the field. Then, just this past Friday (Nov. 10), Schweizer repeated as NCAA Midwest Regional champion, finishing with a 6k time of 19:50.0, 20 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
In addition to taking home the SEC and NCAA Midwest Regional title, Schweizer posted another banner year on the cross country circuit, piggy-backing off of a breakout junior campaign during which she claimed three national championships. This year, Schweizer was named SEC Runner of the Week twice and garnered USTFCCA National Athlete of the Week honors on Sept. 18 after setting a course record at the Commodore Classic at Vanderbilt. She also finished as the runner up at the Pre-National meet and earned meet wins at the Cowboy Jamboree, Commodore Classic and the SEC Championships.
For her success, Schweizer was named the SEC Women's Runner of the Year and the USTFCCCA Women's Runner of the Year, both repeat honors for the five-time NCAA All-American. On the year, Schweizer posted a season-best 5K time of 16:25.4 at the Commodore Classic and reset her 6K personal best at the Pre-National Meet with a time of 19:29.7, nearly 12 seconds ahead of her PR heading into the season.
In 2016-17, Schweizer had a breakout season that included three national titles, four conference titles, three regional athlete of the year honors and two conference athlete of the year honors, as well as being named the Honda Award winner for cross country. By winning the cross country, indoor 5,000m run and outdoor 5,000m run NCAA titles, Schweizer became the fourth female in NCAA history to win the distance triple crown.
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