Karissa Schweizer

Schweizer was raised in Urbandale, Iowa, the granddaughter of Frank Schweizer, an NCAA Division II All-American runner at Mankato State, who coached track at Dowling Catholic High School, for over four decades. Mike, Steve and Doug, the three sons of Frank and Linda Schweizer ran for Dowling. Mike also earned All-American honors at Mankato and there met his future wife, Kathy Petricka, a Mankato runner who also has coached. Their children, the youngest, Kelsey, Ryan and Karissa, ran for Dowling as well. Ryan who now competes for Notre Dame won eight state championships, including a swimming title, while at Dowling, A 3:49.04 1500m PR earned him a 3rd at the 2017 USA Track and Field Junior championships in June 2017. Steve's children also ran cross country, Alexis and Tyler competing for Dowling.[5][6]

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 3000 m at the 2011 IAHSAA championships.[7][8]

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, where she finished 155th.[9] Two years later, she qualified for and placed third in the 5000 m at the 2016 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships.[10]

The following cross country season, Schweizer was not considered a favorite for the individual NCAA title.[11] Despite this, Schweizer defeated favorites Erin Finn and Anna Rohrer to win the 6 kilometer race in 19:41.6, becoming the first female national champion in any sport in Missouri Tigers history.[11][12]

Schweizer ran the 3000 m and 5000 m at the next 2017 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, finishing second and first respectively.[10] At the 2017 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Schweizer ran 15:39.93 in the 5000 m to win her third national collegiate title.[13]

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.[10] That following indoor season, she completed her first title defense by winning the 5000 m at the 2018 NCAA Division I Indoor Track and Field Championships, in addition to a 3000 m victory.[14]

She won the Honda Sports Award as the nation's top female cross country runner in 2017.[15][16]

It was also at this time that Schweizer began competing at higher-profile invitational meets. At the 2018 Dr. Sander Invitational at the Armory Track & Field Center, Schweizer finished third in an international open mile field, her time of 4:27.54 placing her among the top five collegians all-time indoors.[17] Later that season at the Millrose Games, Schweizer set the American collegiate record in the 3000 m with a time of 8:41.60, her time beating Olympic medalist Jenny Simpson's previous record by one second.[2][18] In the 2018 NCAA Division I Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Schweizer ran 32:14.94 in the 10000 m to finish third, twelve seconds under the existing meet record, set by Sylvia Mosqueda thirty years earlier.[19] Two days later, after leading most of race, she easily repeated her 2017 5,000 meter win, closing out her remarkable college career with her sixth NCAA outdoor championship and NCAA indoor championship gold, a silver and two bronze medals.[20]

Schweizer signed professionally with the Bowerman Track Club in 2018.[21]

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.[22]

On February 28, 2020, at Boston University's "Last Chance Invitational" meet, Schweizer set a new indoor American Record the 3000 m in 8:25.70. Her Bowerman Track Club teammates Shelby Houlihan and Colleen Quigley 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.[23]

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 Colleen Quigley and Courtney Frerichs in 4:03.98 and 4:07.39, respectively.