University of Illinois
Notre Dame Invitational
Bizzarri Crushes 5K Freshman Record
September 29, 2006 | Women's Cross Country
Sept. 29, 2006
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Freshman stand-out Angela Bizzarri is making a solid legacy for herself at Illinois after shattering the 5K freshman record by twenty-two seconds at the Notre Dame Invitational in South Bend, Ind. Friday night. Her record-breaking performance of 16:56 led her team and herself to finish fifth in the competition.
Bizzarri, named Big Ten Runner of the Week on Sept. 26, now sits at the top of both the 5K and 6K Illinois freshman thrones with her first two collegiate races. She also jumps into the fifth spot for the fastest 5K finish by an Illini in program history.
Head coach Karen Harvey was pleased with Bizzarri's performance, but expressed the team is more talented than its runners showed in this race.
"Angela ran great, Cassie [Hunt] ran well, but the rest of the team just ran solid," Harvey said. "Unfortunately, solid just wasn't good enough in a race as stacked with competition as this one was. I was disappointed that we didn't get off the line well. We needed to get out fast and that killed us. But, we're not panicking. It's not October yet, and this is a very talented team. It will come around."
Senior Cassie Hunt finished 20th, followed closely by senior Stephanie Simms in 25th. Junior Maggie Carroll and freshman Stephanie Baliga rounded out the Illini's scoring finishes. Their performances tallied 126 points for Illinois, but fell short of third place by a mere six. Michigan took the team crown with 57 points, followed by NC State (95), Providence (120), and Florida State (124), respectively. The Orange and Blue did overcome Michigan State and Georgia with their fifth place finish. North Carolina did not compete. All seven of these competitors were ranked in the Top-30 going into the competition.
The Fighting Illini will take next weekend off to train for Pre-Nationals on Oct. 14 to be held in Terre Haute, Ind.
Illini Results: 1) Angela Bizzarri (5) 16:56 2) Cassie Hunt (20) 17:16 3) Stephanie Simms (25) 17:22 4) Maggie Carroll (35) 17:33 5) Stephanie Baliga (41) 17:41 6) Rachel Hernandez (59) 17:52 7) Liz Mengyan (95) 18:22 8) Shannon Phelan (105) 18:24 9) Katie Engel (108) 18:28
