Angela Bizzarri is so fast that she sometimes even surprises herself.

So when she was the first person to cross the finish line at the NCAA National Championships last Monday in Terre Haute, Ind., it took a while for her to fully grasp the idea that she is the 2009 NCAA women’s cross country champion.

“At that point (when I crossed the finish line), I was still kind of surprised, almost like, it takes a while for you to realize what just happened, and I think it was one of those situations (where) I knew I won, it just happened so quickly,” Bizzarri said. “It took a while for it to sink in that I won.”

The idea of winning was always in the back of Bizzarri’s mind, but her mindset was to improve from her sixth-place finish at last season’s nationals and to walk away knowing that she ran the best she could throughout her four years at Illinois.

“I didn’t go into the race thinking, ‘If I don’t win, I’m going to be disappointed,’” Bizzarri said. “I go into a race thinking if I run a smart race, if I give it my all, I’m going to be happy with what I do. I think if I did those two things, I knew I would place well, no matter where everyone else was.”

Bizzarri was not the favorite entering the race, as cross country coach Jeremy Rasmussen said the week before the big meet. But he did hint that no one had seen the best of Bizzarri yet.

“We really haven’t gone from the gun yet this year,” Rasmussen said the week prior to nationals. “I think there is going to be an opportunity this time to go out there and really see everything that she’s got.”

Colorado’s Jenny Barringer and Florida’s Susan Kuijken were the clear favorites to win, and at the 2K mark of the 6K race, they held a slim lead. But Bizzarri thought it was likely that they would slow down after such a fast start.

And indeed, they did. Barringer collapsed on the course midway through the race and never challenged for the lead again. Kuijken still had a 13-second lead over Bizzarri after four kilometers but slowed soon after.

It was then a neck-and-neck race between Bizzarri and Washington’s Kendra Schaaf. Down the home stretch, Bizzarri used her signature kick to beat Schaaf by five seconds.

“(On Monday), I especially learned patience,” Bizzarri said. “I didn’t go out with the front pack, and I had a lot of patience, and it ended up working well.”

Bizzarri had few words to describe what the individual title means to her, and instead said it means more to share it.

“It’s great for it to happen, and I’m glad that it happened for all the people around me supporting me,” Bizzarri said. “It’s nice to do well when everyone has taken so much time and effort to be able to help improve me as a runner and a person.”

Bizzarri doesn’t enjoy talking about her own accomplishments, but such an impressive accolade will be difficult for her to hide down the road.

“I was like, ‘Ang how’d you do?’ and she just held up a number one finger, and I was just ecstatic then,” said sophomore Kristin Sutherland, who finished second for the Illini and 41st overall, one spot shy of becoming an All-American.

“She’s the most modest person in the world,” Sutherland added. “You’d never know that she’s as good as she is just talking to her. She doesn’t brag or anything.”

Though Sutherland was upset at not becoming an All-American and the Illini’s 12th-place finish didn’t capitalize on their goal of finishing in the top 10, Bizzarri’s feat was enough to overcome any disappointments.

“You can’t really be mad when you find out that she had just won nationals,” Sutherland said.

Winning wasn’t the only surprise for Bizzarri, as she said the best part was having a better result than expected. Taking on the 6K course in a personal-best 19:46 was better in Bizzarri’s eyes than beating 254 of the nation’s top runners, upsetting the clear favorites and defying the odds set against her.

“It’s not like you expect it; it’s not like you think that (winning) is something you have to do,” Bizzarri said.

“At the end … I guess the two things I really wanted to happen was for me to run a smart race, which I did, and leave it all out there for my last time, which happened.”