Jan. 16, 2012

USC redshirt senior Zsofia Erdelyi placed fifth with a time of 2:36.56 at the Houston Marathon in Houston, Texas on January 15. Her time was just under the Olympic "A" Standard of 2:37.00 which means she has a good chance of representing Hungary at the 2012 Olympics in England this summer as she has the third-fastest time in her native country.

It was just the second marathon ever for Erdelyi, but her second in 42 days as she won the 2011 Rock `n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon on Dec. 4 with a time of 2:48.58. Normally, athletes will run 2-3 marathons in a year.

"Zsofia ran a great tactical race in Houston," said USC distance coach Tom Walsh. "Its tough to be patient for the first 18 miles, but she executed her race plan perfectly. She ran even splits for most of the way and then picked it up near the end."

Erdelyi averaged 5:59 each mile for 26.2 miles.

"Its an amazing accomplishment for Zsofia to qualify for the Olympic games in the marathon," said Walsh. "We look forward to having her back for the track season this spring."

Erdelyi is USC's record-holder in the 5000m (16:00.11), 10,000m (33:18.75) and 3000m SC (10:01.99) and she is expected to compete this season in the 5000m and the 10,000m races.