LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Mizzou Cross Country senior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) earned her sixth career All-America honor Saturday at the NCAA Cross Country Championships in Louisville, Ky. The All-America honor is the 13th top-40 finish for the Mizzou women at the NCAA meet, and the 21st in program history overall, men or women.
Recording her sixth All-America finish, Schweizer now ranks tied for third in Mizzou women's history and tied for fifth overall in program history for most All-America honors.
NOTABLE FINISHES
Schweizer crossed the finish line with a time of 19:47.47, 28 seconds behind New Mexico's Ednah Kurgat, who took first place with a time of 19:19.5. The time was Schweizer's third-fastest 6k time this season, trailing only her Pre-National Invitational (19:29.70) and SEC Championships (19:36.30) performances.
QUOTABLES
Mizzou Head Coach Marc Burns
On the race…
"It was a tough day for Karissa, I think she ran really hard. Obviously, not what we were hoping for. Certainly, her goal was to be in the mix to be up in the top group. What was really telling about her as a person and a competitor, was when she did fall off that lead group, it would have been easy for her to pack it in. She battled back and fought hard. With 400 meters to go, she was in the 20s. She gathered herself and fought really hard to finish 11th. We are really proud of 11th today. She gave us everything she had today, and that's all that we can ask of her."
POST RACE INTERVIEW: Head Coach Marc Burns' (@mburnsMizzou) thoughts on @KarissaSchweiz4 finishing 11th at the #NCAAXC Championships.#MIZ #TigerTough ?? pic.twitter.com/Vb0pRydjEH
— Mizzou Track & Field (@MIZ_TrackField) November 18, 2017
Mizzou senior Karissa Schweizer
On her performance…
"It was a fast-pace race from the start, and I couldn't quite get comfortable. It just wasn't my day. I wanted to stop, but I'm really proud of myself for making it through the race. I'm going to take this to really motivate me to work towards having a strong indoor and outdoor season."
UP NEXT
Schweizer and Mizzou will now transition to the indoor track season, where the Tiger senior claimed two All-America finishes in 2017, finishing first in the 5,000m run and second in the 3,000 run. Mizzou will open with a home meet as it hosts the Missouri Holiday Opener Friday, Dec. 8, at the Hearnes Center.
For all the latest on Mizzou Track & Field, stay tuned to MUTigers.com and follow the team on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram (MIZ_TrackField).
Women's 6k Results
11. Karissa Schweizer, 19:47.47