Longtime Relays standouts Karissa Schweizer and Shelby Houlihan set sights on record

DES MOINES — Karissa Schweizer owns the Drake Relays record in the women’s 1,500-meters. Fellow Iowan Shelby Houlihan holds the American record for that distance. But both international track stars embraced Tuesday night as non-winners after the USATF one-mile championships.

Consider that an aberration — and fuel for their respective internal fires entering Saturday’s elite mile event at Drake Stadium.

“I mean, we wanted to go one-two on Tuesday,” said Schweizer, a former standout at West Des Moines Dowling and Missouri, who finished second to Krissy Gear in Tuesday’s record-breaking race. “We’re definitely having some revenge on Saturday.”

Schweizer and Houlihan — a former Sioux City East and Arizona State star — will take aim on a 50-year-old Drake Relays record in the women’s mile set by Francis Larrieu. Schweizer seeks her 14th Relays medal. Houlihan is chasing her 17th medal on the blue oval.

“So many cool memories,” said Houlihan, who returned to the track after serving a four-year ban for an anti-doping violation. “And I was watching some of the high schoolers warming up in the warm-up area, and I’m thinking about how I was in high school warming up (there). A lot of just random memories.”

Houlihan swept up the 2018 and 2019 USATF titles in the 1,500-meters and 5,000-meters in her most recent trip to the famed blue oval.

Schweizer’s Relays record-setting run in the 1,500 came in 2018. She placed in the top-10 in both the 5,000 and 10,00 at the 2024 Paris Olympics and joined Gear in qualifying for the 2025 World Athletics Road Running Championships because of their one-two finish.

“Very good memories coming back,” said Schweizer, who is an Urbandale native. “Honestly, I was just so nervous in high school racing (here), so it brings back some nerves, but it’s all good nerves. It’s exciting to compete with a home crowd, and just to be bale to come back to an event where you’ve competed so much (and) you’ve watched the pros race before — it’s cool to come back as a pro.”

Especially when breaking records is on her and Houlihan’s minds. Both joined Gear in breaking the previous American benchmark in the mile on Tuesday, so expect a furious pace on Saturday to emerge, as well.

“Once you get on that line, it’s like everyone’s going for blood,” Schweizer said.

Houlihan concurred.

“Definitely,” she said with a smile.

NOTES

Northern Iowa’s Carter Morton grasped silver in the decathlon, but it took a record-breaking performance to keep him from attaining gold. Nebraska’s Till Steinforth eclipsed Kip Janvrin’s 27-year-old benchmark by scoring 8,265 points. Morton — who won this event in 2023 — totaled 7,882 points, and Iowa’s Abraham Vogelsang scored 7,874 to place third. … Iowa State’s Cam Jones was was the only collegiate athlete to hit 65-meters in the debut of three-time Olympic champion Ryan Crouser’s World shot Put Series. Jones, a former Cedar Rapids Kennedy standout, will try to repeat as the Relays university division shot put champion on Friday afternoon. … Three-time Olympic qualifier Ryan Winkler set a meet and stadium record while winning the elite hammer throw event with a top effort of 81.08 meters.

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