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 | Class:
Junior
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| Hometown:
Mason, Ohio
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| High School:
Mason HS
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| Event:
Distance
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| Birthdate:
02/15/1988
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AT ILLINOIS
2009 Track & Field
Honored with the Dike Eddleman Award for the second consecutive year as the University of Illinois Female Athlete of the Year... Earned All-America honors in cross country, indoor track and outdoor track for the second year in a row and has a total of seven accolades in her career ... Broke five school records in 2008-09 ... Named a second team Academic All-American by ESPN the Magazine ... Academic All-Big Ten. Outdoor: Took third in the 5,000m at the USA Championships with a personal-best time of 15:33.02 ... That performance reset her own Illinois school 5,000m record for the fourth time in her career ... NCAA champion in the 5,000m with a winning time of 16:17.94 ... Won the seventh national title in school history and was Illinois' first national champion since Perdita Felicien won the 100m hurdles in 2003 ... Also won Illinois' first national title in a non-hurdling event and earned the seventh All-America accolade of her career ... Named the USTFCCCA Midwest Region Track Athlete of the Year ... NCAA Mideast Regional champion in the 5,000m for the second consecutive year, setting a meet record with a time of 16:11.00 ... Won the first Big Ten title of her career by placing first in the 5,000m at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships, setting a new championships record with a time of 15:54.86 ... Also placed second in the 1,500m at the Big Ten Championships, setting a school record with a time of 4:16.86 ... Scored a total of 18 team points at Big Ten's to be one of the meet's top performers ... Ran what was then a personal-best in the 5,000m at the Mt. SAC Relays, timing 15:37.39 and finishing third behind two professional athletes ... Was named co-Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week after her performance at Mt. SAC ... Opened the outdoor season at the Sun Angel Track Classic by finishing third in the 1,500m (4:17.65) ... Member of 4x1,6000m relay that was seventh at the Drake Relays. Indoor: Earned the sixth All-America accolade of her career by taking fourth in the 3,000m at the NCAA Indoor Championships (9:15.50) ... Illinois' top performer at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, taking second in the 3,000m (9:20.77) and fourth in the 5,000m (16:07.50) ... Big Ten performance in the 5,000m was the first time in her career running the event indoor, as she broke the Illinois school record in the event and automatically qualified for the NCAA Championships ... Also broke the 3,000m school record at the Meyo Invitational with a time of 9:11.62, placing third and automatically qualifying for the NCAA Championships ... Was fourth in the mile at the Iowa State Classic with a performance of 4:43.29.
2008 Track & Field
Received the Dike Eddleman Award as the Illinois Female Athlete of the Year ... Earned All-America honors in cross country, indoor track and field and outdoor track and field ... Academic All-Big Ten. Outdoor: Competed in the 5,000m at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials in July, advancing to the event final and placing 13th (16:03.99) ... Ran a season-best 5,000m time of 15:45.78 that reset her school record in prelims of the U.S. Olympic Team Trials ... Earned All-America honors by finishing runner-up in the 5,000m at the NCAA Outdoor Championships (15:46.08) ... NCAA Mideast Regional champion in the 5,000m (16:24.38), earning All-Region honors ... Runner-up in the 5,000m at the Big Ten Outdoor Championships (16:27.73) ... Also scored in the 1,500m at the Big Ten Championships, placing fifth (4:25.30) ... Named Co-Big Ten Track Athlete of the Week in April after placing first in the 5,000m at the Brutus Hamilton Invite in Berkeley, Calif. (16:16.43) ... Ran a season-best 1,500m time of 4:19.95 at the Sun Angel Track Classic. Indoor: Earned All-America honors by anchoring the Illini distance medley relay to sixth place at the NCAA Indoor Championships (11:12.33) ... Member of distance medley relay that won the Alex Wilson Invitational and set a school record of 11:09.09 ... Scored in two events at the Big Ten Indoor Championships, placing fifth in both the 3,000m (9:23.02) and mile (4:47.76) ... Ran personal-best time of 4:41.98 in the mile at the Iowa State Classic ... Ran on DMR that was fifth at the Meyo Invitational (11:26.71).
2007 Track & Field
Named Illinois Female Newcomer of the Year for all sports. Outdoor: Competed in the NCAA Championships in the 1,500m ... Ran season-best 4:20.96 in the 1,500m in prelims at the NCAA Mideast Regional Championships ... Competed in the 1,500m at the Big Ten Championships ... Ran the 3,000m at the USA Junior meet. Indoor: Placed third at the Big Ten Championships in the mile run (4:46.02) ... Member of distance medley relay that placed fourth at the Tyson Invitational (11:27.13) ... Earned titles in the mile run at the Indiana Team Classic and the Carle/Health Alliance Invitational.
Cross Country Highlights
2008: Earned the fifth All-America accolade of her career, placing sixth at the NCAA Championships with a personal-best 6K time of 19:59 that bettered her school record ... Finished runner-up for the third straight year at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships to again earn All-Region honors ... Earned first team All-Big Ten honors for the third consecutive year, placing seventh at the conference meet (20:52) ... Took 14th at Pre-Nationals in her first race of the season with a 6K time of 20:47.
2007: Earned All-America status for the second consecutive year, taking 14th at the NCAA Championships with a time of 20:35 and leading the Illini to a sixth-place finish ... Finished second overall at the NCAA Midwest Regional Meet with a 20:03, garnering All-Region honors and leading the Illini to a second-place finish ... First team All-Big Ten, finishing third overall at the conference meet (19:59 ... Placed fourth at Pre-Nationals, helping the Illini to a fifth-place finish ... Placed first for Illinois in every race run ... Academic All-Big Ten.
2006: Garnered All-America honors after placing 24th at the NCAA Championships, the fourth freshman to cross the finish line with a time of 21:18 ... Finished runner-up at the NCAA Midwest Regional Championships with a time of 20:49 and led the Illini to the team title ... Earned first team All-Big Ten honors by placing fifth at the conference meet (20:49) ... Clocked a 6K season-best time of 20:26 at Pre-Nationals, finishing eighth overall ... Was fifth at the Notre Dame Invite with a 5K time of 16:56 ... Named Big Ten Runner of the Week after placing first in her collegiate debut at the Brissman-Lundeen Invite ... Placed first for the Illini in each race ran.
High School
Was the Ohio D1 state champion for cross country in 2002 and 2004 ... Ohio D1 Track and Field state champion in the 3,200m from 2003-2006 ... Took first in the 1600m at the 2006 state meet ... Helped her team to the Ohio Division 1 state title in 2004 ... Four-time letterwinner in both cross country and track and field.
Personal
Daughter of Paul and Diane Bizzarri ... Born Feb. 15, 1988 ... Majoring in molecular and cellular biology ... Has one sister, Carmen ... Her biggest thrill in sports was winning the Ohio State Track and Field team title ... Her high school coaches, Jeff Branhan and Kelly Affatato, most influenced her athletic career.
Bizzarri's Personal Bests
Outdoor
1,500m: 4:16.95*
5,000m: 15:33.02*
Indoor
Mile: 4:41.98
3,000m: 9:11.62*
5,000m: 16:07.50*
* School Record
