With the biggest race of the season finally here, Illinois women’s cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen stressed for his runners to really focus on taking care of themselves this whole week, even if it meant being “selfish.”

No. 16 Illinois took second at regionals last Saturday with a couple runners feeling ill. Now, Rasmussen wants his runners feeling 100 percent by Monday, when the Illini compete at the long-awaited NCAA Nationals Championships in Terre Haute, Ind.

“Being a student-athlete here at (Illinois) has a lot of challenges, as far as academics and sleep and those things, and that’s probably the one thing that I’m already talking to them about,” Rasmussen said. “What we talked about after the race (last Saturday) was that you need to make sure you’re really taking care of yourself this week.”

The Illini are aiming for a fifth consecutive top-10 finish at nationals. Their highest finish was when they placed fifth in 2005. For the Illini to continue their streak, they will need strong performances from their front pack.

In the midst of a 407-runner field, senior Angela Bizzarri is expected be the standout Illini at the head of the pack. Rasmussen believes that Bizzarri can squeeze into the top five.

“One of (Angela’s) goals at the beginning of the year was try to be better than she was last year, so that would mean being in the top five,” Rasmussen said. “But we really haven’t gone from the gun yet this year. I think there’s going to be an opportunity this time or at nationals to go out there and really see everything that she’s got.”

If Bizzarri can best her sixth-place finish from last season, she will make Illini history as the highest finisher at nationals in the program.

The national course will be nothing new for Bizzarri, who has ran on it more than eight times, and closing out her collegiate career on one of her favorite courses adds to her excitement for Monday.

“I definitely want to do well, just the fact that it’s just going to be … my last cross country race, so hopefully it can end on a good note,” Bizzarri said. “But I’m really excited. I know that I’m in really good shape. All I have to really do is race like I normally do.

“I feel like I’ve already put in the hard work behind it. It’s just (showing it) on that day.”

The team also expects to receive a boost from senior Elizabeth Boyle, junior Chantelle Groenewoud and sophomore Kristin Sutherland, who have all proved pivotal for the team throughout the season and were named All-Big Ten and All-Region.

“They’ve been actually doing a great job all year long, and I think that they’ve all understood kind of what their role is for our team, and knowing that for us to be successful, they have to try and do the best they can,” Rasmussen said.

Other Big Ten teams at the race will be No. 11 Penn State and No. 13 Minnesota, while Washington, from the Pac-10, stands at No. 1.

In the final race of the season, the team knows it must give its all but still race smart.

“Just run your hardest,” Sutherland said. “It’s the last race of the year, so give it all you got.

“(But) coach always talks to us the night before, so it’s not going to be a free-for-all just mad dash.”