Sept. 28, 2007

South Bend, Ind. - Illinois sophomore Angela Bizzarri led the women's cross country team to a second-place finish at the Notre Dame Invitational on Friday night, crossing the finish line in second-place with a 5K personal-best performance of 16:43 in her 2007 season debut. The Illini, who have been withholding their top runners from competition for training purposes, debuted their top seven runners and made a dash for the finish line, improving upon last year's fifth-place finish.

"I think everyone was really excited because it was the first race for most of the girls that ran today," sophomore Angela Bizzarri said. "It's hard to know how you are going to do until you get into a race situation, but I think everyone ran well and had a good race."

Sophomore Katie Engel and senior Rachel Hernandez finished strong together, crossing the finish line in 17:31 in 24th and 25th place, respectively, both recording personal-bests. Sophomore Stephanie Baliga closely followed with a time of 17:42 (36th) while freshman-standout Danelle Woods came in fifth for the Illini (52, 17:52). Rounding out the top seven for the Orange and Blue were sophomore Theresa Brokaw (61, 17:58) and freshman Chantelle Groenewoud (70, 18:01).

Cross Country Coach Jeremy Rasmussen was pleased with his team's performance, but noted that he thinks they have yet to reach their potential.

"I think we went out a little fast today, but even though, we continued to compete and hold our place," Rasmussen said. "Being second sets us up well for the rest of the year, but I think we have a lot more potential for the races to come. We haven't changed our training at all, and we are going to continue to build on our strength to make sure we are running well at the end of the year."

No. 7 Illinois, which faced a stacked field of seven nationally ranked opponents out of 21 teams, tallied 139 points. Rice totaled 118 to take first. Following Illinois was No. 12 Florida State University in third, while No. 2 Michigan and No. 26 Boston College rounded out the top five.

The Fighting Illini will take next weekend off to train for Pre-Nationals on Oct. 13 to be held in Terre Haute, Ind.

Illinois Results:
1) Angela Bizzarri (2)		16:43
2) Katie Engel (24)			17:31
3) Rachel Hernandez (25)		17:31
4) Stephanie Baliga (36)		17:42
5) Danelle Woods (52)			17:52
6) Theresa Brokaw (61)		17:58
7) Chantelle Groenewoud (70)		18:01