By Jeff Wallner

Mason track star Angela Bizzarri is headed to the Big Ten Conference with big dreams in tow.  Widely regarded as one of the most decorated female high school athletes in Greater Cincinnati, she has signed with the University of Illinois where she’ll run track and cross country and work toward a degree in bio-engineering.

After helping elevate Mason’s track and field and cross country programs to championship status, Bizzarri is hoping to do the same for the Illini.

The lure of one the nation’s best engineering programs is the primary reason why she chose Illinois over schools such as Michigan, Tennessee, Duke and Georgetown. But, Bizzarri admits she’ll enjoy the challenge of no longer being the center of attention in her sport. 

“I didn’t want to be one of the top one or two runners,” she says. “I wanted someone in front of me.”

That scenario hasn’t presented itself often for Bizzarri during her high school career, whether it is in the classroom or in athletics.

Bizzarri excels in academics with a 4.0 average. She’s won five state championships including two in cross country and three consecutive 3,200-meter state titles. She gave soccer and swimming a try before settling on track and field as her sport of choice.

Bizzarri still finds time to play the flute in Mason’s Wind Symphony. She says she began playing the flute to help take her mind off the constant pressures of sports and school work.

“I’m not very good at art or drawing,” she says. “Playing the flute allows me to use the other part of my brain. It relaxes me. It’s a whole other mindset and form of expression. ”

Mason track and field coach Tony Affatato says he and his wife, Kelly, who coaches the Comets’ cross country team, have never encountered a high school athlete as committed to success as Bizzarri.

“She's just very dedicated to school and academics,” Tony Affatato says. “She handles success with such class and dignity. She's a fierce competitor when she needs to be and humble when she's victorious."

Despite all of her personal accomplishments, Affatato has been most impressed with the manner in which Bizzarri has dealt with disappointment.

“It hasn't been all rosy,” he says. “She’s had her share of ups and downs. But, she handles defeat with more class than most high school kids.”

Bizzarri finished a close second at the 2005 cross country state championships. It was the kind of gut-wrenching defeat that might have crushed most teenage kids, but not for Bizzarri. “A lot of kids would have sulked,” Affatato says. “She just wiped the dust off.”

When asked about her greatest accomplishment, Bizzarri, who is considered to be one of the greatest individual athletes to stroll the halls at Mason, says it was the Comets’ 2004 team state championship - the first in school history. Mason has finished third in the state in cross country the past two seasons.

“When you run by yourself, it seems like such a personal victory,” she says. “A team title is a team moment. It means so much more.”

Bizzarri, who set a meet record in the 800 (2:16.48) at the 37th annual Colerain Invitational in April, was a Junior Olympic national champion as an eighth grader while living in Dearborn County, Indiana.

Bizzarri joins Kelsey Flaherty (Xavier), Elyse Gabel (Dartmouth), and twins Katie and Maggie Chaney (Ohio) as Mason’s Division I signees. 

While bio-engineering might seem like an unusual career choice for most high school track stars, it makes perfect sense for Bizzarri who is eyeing a career in medicine or engineering.

“It combines both math and science, which I love,” she says. “I’ll be able to go in different directions. I could go to med school or go into engineering, which I enjoy.” 

The Illini placed fifth last fall in the NCAA Championships under fourth-year coach Karen Harvey. Harvey’s husband, Kevin, is a two-time Olympian and an assistant coach for the Illini.  

“I really enjoyed meeting with the coaches at Illinois,” Bizzarri says. “It’s an up-and-coming program like Mason was when I started. It’ll be something new and interesting.” 

As the clock ticks down on her senior year, Bizzarri is beginning to sense the reality of what lies ahead.     

“It’s kind of a nervous excitement,” she says. ‘It’s going to be hard leaving Mason. I’ve been running with most of the same people since middle school. The support of everyone from my coaches, the administration and my family has been great.”    

When Bizzarri graduates, it’ll mark the end of an era at Mason High School. For Tony and Kelly Affatato, who welcomed their first child, Gabriella, in January, it’ll be like bidding farewell to one of their own. 

“My wife and I feel like Angela’s a daughter to us,” Affatato says. “We will never see another one like her. Not only because of her athletic ability but because she’s such a well-rounded person. You have to be awfully special to do all of the things she’s done.”