COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
Mizzou cross country and track and field legend Karissa Schweizer is no stranger to running on the biggest of stages. However, on Saturday, she will get to watch history play out on the sidelines.
The most decorated athlete in MU history is returning to Columbia, as the city is set to host its first-ever NCAA Division I National Championship. It’s an event that will push Tiger cross country into the national spotlight, which Schweizer said has been building for a long time.
“Since my time there, I’ve been telling so many people, like that’s like the next powerhouse,” Schweizer said. “I’m like that’s somewhere that can have a distance powerhouse.”
Now-a-days, the Iowa native is competing for Olympic medals, as she moved to Portland after graduation and . But, there was a time when the six-time NCAA National Champion was competing for her first of many titles to come. In fact, it was the last time that MU women’s cross country qualified for the national title race.
Back in 2016, Schweizer entered the championship race in Terre Haute, Indiana as an underdog. However, she showed the nation who she was with a memorable finish, passing up four runners in the final 400 meters to take home the crown with a then-personal best time of 19:41.60.
“I still just like remember that finish line shoot of Terre Haute and it was like I was in fourth place,” she said. “I kinda blacked out and I was like oh my gosh, I won…Still even looking back, it’s like one of my favorite races. It still just like gives me chills like thinking about it.”
With that victory, Schweizer was the first cross country champion that women’s program had ever seen and, from there, won five more national championships. But, her 2016 crown also managed to put Mizzou on the map.
“Just showcasing that we definitely had a good program and something that people wanted to come to,” Schweizer.
Now, nearly a decade after her first title, Schweizer is returning to the town that kickstarted her running career.
She’ll get to watch the Mizzou women take the biggest stage in the sport for the first time since 2016, as the Tiger alum will come to Columbia with plenty of advice in-hand for those young runners.
“Just like going out there and enjoying it, really. That’s like when I’ve run my best, when I’m just like on the line and I’m nervous, obviously, but it’s like all the like work has been done and I’m ready to go. What’ll happen will happen,” she said.
She’s added that she’s excited for the nation to see what makes Columbia such a special place for runners.
“I think the biggest thing is [Gans Creek is] just like a true cross country course,” she said. “In past times, like when I was running, it was like a lot of golf courses turned into cross country courses, which is good, but it’s just not quite the same. You can’t like have like the footing and all that be so predictable. So, that part’s really nice. Then, having like 2K, 3K loop, I think that’s a big advantage for them.”
The women’s title race will begin at 9:20 a.m. at Gans Creek on Saturday morning.
