June 28, 2008

Eugene, OR - Former Gaucho Stephanie Rothstein performed exceptionally well at the USA Olympic Trials Meet on Friday night. The 24 year-old 2007 graduate competed in the 10 kilometer event, placing 12th of twenty-four with a time of 33:22 (an average pace of 5:22 per mile). The mark was her second fastest 10k of her life and her finish was significantly higher than her ranking going into the race.

"My goal was top ten but I did everything I could, and this serves as a good indicator to evaluate where I am now, and where I need to be in 4 years."

While an above high school competitor with a mile best of just under 5 minutes, Rothstein made the transition to being one of the nation's elite athletes while training at UCSB. Upon graduation, Rothstein possessed multiple Division I All-American accolades, countless Big West Championships, and two Conference all time records.

"Stephanie was always one of my most relentless competitors." Said head Coach Pete Dolan. "She was always willing to do the work to get better."

The Arizona native now trains professionally in Eugene Oregon under the supervision of coach Brad Hudson. In the past 12 months she has competed all over the country as well as in Japan and Europe. While the 10k effort was very impressive, Rothstein has her sites set on eventually moving up to the marathon.

"I think the marathon is my most realistic option for qualifying for the London 2012 Olympics."

In January she entered her longest distance race ever at the USA Half Marathon Championships (13.1 miles) and clocked a blistering time of 1:13:16 (5:35 pace per mile), good for 11th place in a remarkably fast field.

Rothstein will be back in Santa Barbara for the program's high school summer camp scheduled for July 20th to 24th.