Karissa Schweizer (born May 4, 1996) is an American middle- and

long-distance runner Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely Aerobic exercise, aerobic in nature and requires endurance, stamina as well as mental strength. Within e ...

, Olympian and World Record holder in the women's 4x1500 meters relay. She competed in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in the 5000 meters and 10,000 meters events finishing 11th and 12th, respectively. In 2020, she set the indoor 3000 meters American Record with a time of 8:25.70. Representing the University of Missouri, she won the

2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships The 2016 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 78th NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 36th NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship to determine the national champions of men's and women's NCAA Div ...

and holds five other NCAA individual championship titles including being the two-time NCAA Champion in the 5000 meters event. She is the American collegiate record-holder for the indoor 3000 meters run with a time of 8:41.60. She closed out her collegiate career as the most decorated female athlete in University of Missouri history.

Early career

Schweizer grew up in Urbandale, Iowa and attended Dowling Catholic High School. She is the daughter of Mike and Kathy (Petricka) Schweizer, both of whom had successful collegiate track careers at Mankato State, with her father earning All-American honors. Karissa's grandfather, Frank Schweizer, was a NCAA Division II All-American runner at Mankato State. He coached track at Dowling Catholic High School for over four decades but retired before Karissa began her high school career. Her family has a rich running heritage at Dowling with her father and uncles, Steve and Doug, running track for the school. Her siblings Kelsey and Ryan also ran for Dowling, with Ryan winning eight state championships including a swimming title. He also ran a 3:49.04 PR in the 1500m to earn him a 3rd at the 2017 USA Track and Field Junior Championships. He is a member of the University of Notre Dame's track team. Karissa's cousins Alexis and Tyler ran cross-country for Dowling and a younger cousin, Lily, competed in 5th-grade track at Saint Francis. Karissa never won an individual state or national cross-country title while at Dowling, never qualified for the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships, and her only track title was for 3 kilometer the 2011

IAHSAA The Iowa High School Athletic Association (IHSAA) is the regulating body for male Iowa high school interscholastic athletics and is a full member of the National Federation of State High School Associations. Its female counterpart, the Iowa Girls ...

championships.

Collegiate career (2014-2018)

Recruited to the University of Missouri for track and cross country in 2014, Schweizer's first NCAA championship appearance was at the

2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships The 2014 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships were the 76th NCAA Men's Division I Cross Country Championship and the 34th NCAA Women's Division I Cross Country Championship held at the LaVern Gibson Cross Country Course in Terre Haute, Indi ...

, where she finished 155th. Two years later, she qualified for and placed third in the

5000 m The 5000 metres or 5000-metre run is a common long-distance running event in track and field, approximately equivalent to or . It is one of the track events in the Olympic Games and the World Championships in Athletics, run over laps of a stand ...

at the

2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 95th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 35th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the fourth consecutive year ...

. The following cross country season, Schweizer was not considered a favorite for the individual NCAA title. Despite this, Schweizer defeated favorites

Erin Finn Erin Finn (born November 19, 1994, in West Bloomfield, Michigan) is a female Long-distance running, long-distance runner from the United States. She competed in the 2013 IAAF World Cross Country Championships – Junior women's race placing 34th ...

and

Anna Rohrer Anna Rohrer (born February 24, 1997) is an American long-distance runner and former student-athlete at the University of Notre Dame. She won four high school national championships and was named the Foot Locker female cross country athlete of the ...

to win the 6 kilometer race in 19:41.6, becoming the first female national champion in any sport in Missouri Tigers history. Schweizer ran the

3000 m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

and

at the next 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing second and first respectively. At the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Schweizer ran 15:39.93 in the

to win her third national collegiate title. Despite victories at the 2017 NCAA Midwest Region and Southeastern Conference cross country championships, Schweizer did not repeat her win at the 2017 NCAA Division I Cross Country Championships, finishing 11th. That following indoor season, she completed her first title defense by winning the 5000m at the

2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships was the 54th NCAA Men's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships and the 37th NCAA Women's Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, held at the Gilliam Indoor Track Stadi ...

, in addition to a 3000m victory. She won the

Honda Sports Award The Honda Sports Award is an annual award in the United States, given to the best collegiate female athlete in each of twelve sports. There are four nominees for each sport, and the twelve winners of the Honda Sports Award are automatically in th ...

as the nation's top female cross country runner in 2017. It was also at this time that Schweizer began competing at higher-profile invitational meets. At the 2018

Dr. Sander Invitational Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

at the Armory Track & Field Center, Schweizer finished third in an international open

mile The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

field, her time of 4:27.54 placing her among the top five collegians all-time indoors. Later that season at the Millrose Games, Schweizer set the American collegiate record in the

3000m The 3000 metres or 3000-metre run is a track running event, also commonly known as the "3K" or "3K run", where 7.5 laps are run around an outdoor 400 m track, or 15 laps around a 200 m indoor track. It is debated whether the 3000m shoul ...

with a time of 8:41.60, her time beating Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson's previous record by one second. In the

2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships The 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships were the 97th NCAA Men's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships and the 37th NCAA Women's Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships held for the sixth consecutive year ...

, Schweizer ran 32:14.94 in the

10,000m The 10,000 metres or the 10,000-metre run is a common long-distance track running event. The event is part of the athletics programme at the Olympic Games and the World Athletics Championships, and is common at championship level events. The rac ...

to finish third, twelve seconds under the existing meet record, set by

Sylvia Mosqueda Sylvia Mosqueda (born April 8, 1966 in Los Angeles, California) is an American long distance runner notable for hard front running over an extended career at an elite level. Early Success First as a high school athlete at San Gabriel High Schoo ...

thirty years earlier. Two days later, after leading most of race, she easily repeated her 2017 5,000-meters win, closing out her remarkable college career with her sixth NCAA outdoor championship and NCAA indoor championship gold, a silver and two bronze medals.

Professional career

Josette Norris, Lauren Paquette and Schweizer competing at the US Olympic Trials in 2021">Lauren_Paquette.html" ;"title="Josette Norris, Lauren Paquette">Josette Norris, Lauren Paquette and Schweizer competing at the US Olympic Trials in 2021 Schweizer signed professionally with the Bowerman Track Club in 2018. Schweizer, running the fastest time 5K in the U.S. during the summer season, recorded a personal best 15:01.63 during a win at the Sunset Tour on July 10, 2019, in Azusa, California. On February 28, 2020, at Boston University's "Last Chance Invitational" meet, Schweizer set a new indoor American Record in the 3000 m of 8:25.70. Her Bowerman Track Club teammates

Shelby Houlihan Shelby Houlihan (born February 8, 1993) is an American middle distance runner, Olympian and World Record holder in the 4x1500m relay who is currently serving a ban. Houlihan competed in the 5000m final at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, finishing ...

and

Colleen Quigley Colleen Quigley (born November 20, 1992) is an American middle-distance runner, steeplechase specialist and an Olympian from St. Louis, Missouri. She is the current World Record holder in the 4x1500 meters relay (set July 31, 2020). Competing in ...

finished close behind in 8:26.66 and 8:28.71, respectively. Schweizer broke Shalane Flanagan's 2007 indoor AR by over seven seconds. Also, her time was faster than Mary Slaney's outdoor record of 8:25.83, set in 1985. On July 10, 2020, Schweizer finished second to Shelby Houlihan in a 5000 m race conducted by the Bowerman Track Club with a new personal best of 14:26.34. Houlihan won the race in a new American Record of 14:23.92. Schweizer's time beat Houlihan's former American Record of 14:34.45 and made her the 14th fastest performer of all-time. On July 23, 2020, Schweizer set a new world leading time in addition to a new personal best in the 1500m, at 4:00.02, which made her the 8th fastest American to ever run the event, finishing in front of

and

Courtney Frerichs Courtney Frerichs (born January 18, 1993) is an American middle-distance runner and steeplechase specialist from Nixa, Missouri, She is a three-time silver medalist in the 3000 meters steeplechase capturing silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Game ...

in 4:03.98 and 4:07.39, respectively. On July 31, 2020, Schweizer, along with

Elise Cranny Elise Cranny (born May 9, 1996) is an American middle and long-distance runner. She competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. High school Cranny was born in 1996. She attended Niwot High School in Colorado, where she won two cross country state c ...

and

established a World Record in the women's 4x1500 meters relay with a time of 16:27.02, eclipsing the previous World Record of 16:33.58 set by a quarter of Kenyan runners on May 25, 2014. The record was ratified in December 2020, On June 21, 2021, in 94-degree heat in Eugene, Oregon, Schweitzer finished 0.3 seconds behind Bowerman Track Club teammate Elise Cranny in the 5000m, qualifying for the U.S. Olympic team with a 15:28.11. Cranny had run the last 400 meters in 63.72 seconds.Elise Cranny Makes Her First Olympic Team, Wins 5,000 Meters
'' Runners World'', Sarah Lorge Butler, June 22, 2021. Retrieved June 22, 2021. Schweitzer had Achilles surgery that fall. On May 27, 2022, at the Prefontaine Classic in Eugene, competing in the 10,000m event, Schweitzer and

Alicia Monson Alicia Monson (born May 13, 1998) is an American long distance runner who primarily competes in the 5000 metres, 5000 meters and 10,000 metres, 10,000 meters. She is the List of North, Central American and Caribbean records in athletics, North A ...

ran together for the last 5,000 meters, which they covered in under 15 minutes. Schweitzer edged Monson by a step crossing the finish line in 30:49.56. It qualified both for the World Athletics Championships United States team to be held in

Eugene, Oregon Eugene ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Oregon. It is located at the southern end of the Willamette Valley, near the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast. As of the 2020 United States Census, Eu ...

.Karissa Schweizer wins women’s 10,000 at Prefontaine Classic; Natosha Rogers nabs final spot on national team
'' The Oregonian'', James Crepea, May 28, 2022. Retrieved June 2, 2022.

Competition record

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schweizer, Karissa Living people American female track and field athletes American female middle-distance runners American female long-distance runners Missouri Tigers women's track and field athletes Sportspeople from Iowa Track and field athletes from Iowa People from Urbandale, Iowa University of Missouri alumni 1996 births Athletes (track and field) at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic track and field athletes of the United States 20th-century American women 21st-century American women