Schweizer Named USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Track Athlete of the Year
6/1/2018 2:45:00 PM | Track & Field
Schweizer will finish collegiate career by running in 5K & 10K at NCAA Outdoor Championships
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Ahead of her final NCAA Outdoor Championships appearance, Mizzou senior Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) was named the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association Women's Track Athlete of the Year, announced by the organization Friday. Schweizer will conclude her magnificent collegiate career June 6-9 at the NCAA Outdoor Championships, where she will look to win her sixth and seventh NCAA titles, as she will run in the 5000m run and 10,000m run.
This is Schweizer's sixth USTFCCCA Midwest Regional Athlete of the Year honor, after she previously won the 2016 and 2017 Cross Country Regional awards, 2017 and 2018 Indoor Regional awards and the 2017 Outdoor Regional award.
Schweizer, a five-time NCAA Champion has had a remarkable 2018 outdoor season that has seen her become a mainstay on the 2018 The Bowerman Watch List. Schweizer began her outdoor season by making her collegiate debut in the 10,000m run at the Stanford Invitational (March 30), where she set the school record with an NCAA-leading time of 32:00.55. The Tiger senior then set her sixth school record at the Tom Botts Invitational (April 20), where she edged professional runner Megan Mansy in the 1500m run with a time of 4:12.83.
Schweizer then transitioned to the blue oval at the Drake Relays (April 26-28), where she was named the Most Outstanding Performer and SEC Runner of the Week for her performance. She started off by setting the Drake Relays 5000m run meet record at 15:23.31, breaking a record that was previously set in 1985. Schweizer then followed up her 5K performance on the track by anchoring the Mizzou distance medley relay team which took home the white flag Saturday with a time of 11:07.59. Schweizer ran a 4:32.19 mile split and elevated the Tigers from fourth to first for the victory.
Schweizer became an eight-time conference champion at the SEC Outdoor Championships (May 13), as she won the 5000m run for the second-straight season with a time of 15:58.14. Schweizer's eight conference titles rank second in women's program history behind only Sabrina Dornhoefer's nine. She also finished runner-up in the 1500m run, as she crossed the finish line at 4:19.98.
Most recently, Schweizer provided a historic performance at the NCAA West Preliminary (May 24-26) as she qualified for the NCAA Finals in the 5K and 10K. Schweizer began by clocking a 32:14.36 in the 10K, which is the fastest 10K time ran in West prelims history by nearly 70 seconds. Schweizer then followed that performance up by running the nation's fastest 5K time, 15:19.65, to return to the 5K final where she captured a national championship a season ago. In Eugene, Schweizer will run in two events for the first time in her career.
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