Schweizer Inks Professional Contract with Nike/Bowerman Track Club
8/14/2018 4:10:00 PM | Women's Cross Country, Women's Track and Field, Track & Field, Cross Country
Schweizer joins an elite level of distance runners within Nike/Bowerman TC
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Former Mizzou Track & Field standout Karissa Schweizer (Urbandale, Iowa) signed a professional contract with Nike and Bowerman Track Club Tuesday, officially starting her professional career. In addition to joining Nike/Bowerman TC, Schweizer announced on June 16 that she would be using KimBIA Athletics as her agency.
Schweizer will remain in Columbia to train and complete her degree requirements this fall before joining the club full-time in 2019.
"I chose Nike and the Bowerman Track Club because I thought their organization was the best fit for me," said Schweizer. "They have a great support system, and I can't wait to train alongside the many high-level athletes in their group. I can't thank Mizzou enough for their support throughout this process, and especially for giving me an atmosphere to succeed in and have this opportunity to take it to the next level."
"Karissa has lead the renaissance of our program back to national prominence," said assistant coach Marc Burns. "Our women have been able to see firsthand what it takes to be the best that one can be. Everything in our program has been elevated thanks to Karissa's success. She has been relentless in her pursuit of excellence as a student, athlete and person. We are so proud and grateful for all that she has done for Mizzou and our program. Karissa will be the first one to tell you that her success was not due to her alone. She is very thankful for our support staff and how much her teammates have helped her along the way. Our mission is to continue to build the momentum that Karissa and her teammates have created over the past four years. We are thrilled that Karissa will be furthering her career with the Bowerman Track Club. Coach Schumacher has proven to be a phenomenal coach and has led many from their group to World Championship and Olympic medals. She will be in an environment that will help her continue to develop as an athlete and a person. We are all excited to see what the future holds for Karissa in our great sport and beyond."
Following a highly successful collegiate season, Schweizer has ran in three professional races this summer. First, she earned bronze in the 5000m run at the USATF Championships on June 24, clocking a time of 15:34.31. Next, Schweizer set a 1500m run personal best time at the Guldendensporenmeeting in Belgium on June 14, winning the race at 4:06.77. Finally, Schweizer finished third in the 5000m run at the Nacht v.d. Atletiek in Heusden, Belgium, on July 21, where she clocked a personal best 5000m time of 15:02.44.
Schweizer concluded her brilliant collegiate career at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (June 6-9), where she recorded two All-America finishes, including a first-place finish in the 5000m run which netted her sixth career NCAA title, the most of any student-athlete in Mizzou history. With the NCAA title, Schweizer is just the second woman in NCAA history to win back-to-back NCAA titles in the indoor and outdoor 5000m runs in the same two-year span, following Arizona's Amy Skieresz in 1997-98. Schweizer's 10 All-America honors match Kearsten Peoples for the most in program history.
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.
During the indoor season, Schweizer became the fifth female in NCAA history to win the 3000m run and 5000m national titles at the same meet. Schweizer clocked the third-fastest indoor 5000m run time in the history of the NCAA Indoor Meet, as she crossed the finish line at 15:43.23, while her time of 8:53.36 held off Boise State's Allie Ostrander in the 3000m run.
The two national titles capped a dominant 2018 indoor campaign in distance running for Schweizer, who set collegiate top-five times in the mile run, 3000m run and 5000m run in 2018. Schweizer set the collegiate record in the 3000m run at the Millrose Games (Feb. 3), winning USTFCCCA Division I Women's National Athlete of the Week and the Southeastern Conference Women's Runner of the Week honors in the process. Schweizer was the top collegiate finisher in the race, as she crossed the finish line fourth at 8:41.60. Schweizer's time surpassed the previous collegiate record from 2009 by Colorado's Jenny (Barringer) Simpson (8:42.03), as well as the Mizzou school record mark of 9:06.39, which was set by Sabrina Dornhoefer in 1984. She also clocked a time of 4:27.54 in the mile run at the Columbia Challenge (Jan. 27), the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history, and a 15:17.31 in the 5000m run at the BU Season Opener (Dec. 2, 2017), the fifth-fastest time in NCAA history.
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