This week, the Discovery Bay resident who trains in Stockton made her professional debut at Daytona International Speedway, which in motorsports parlance is akin to Madison Square Garden for basketball fans.

In a race Thursday in which she finished seventh, she hit a top speed of 175 miles per hour. Let that sink in for a bit. A 16-year-old girl traveling almost three times the legal freeway speed limit with no crumple zones or air bags to protect her.

I find it mind-boggling.

Mind you, I’ve never had the slightest desire to ride a motorcycle for fear I’d wind up lying dead next to a smashed possum. I remember riding my buddy’s mini-bike one afternoon when I was 12. That was enough for me.

So ride on, Elena. Hope this is the start of a thrilling pro career.

The Tigers won, but it was ugly.

Again, their offense was spotty, they lacked flow and cohesion. Every coach wants his team to be peaking at this time in the season. Pacific coach Bob Thomason probably couldn’t say that right now. By the way, that was the worst Long Beach State team I’ve seen in a long time. Talk about offensive inadequacy.

The Tigers have two games remaining in the regular season. They play Thursday at Cal State Fullerton and Saturday at Cal State Northridge. They enter the week tied for first place in the Big West Conference with UC Santa Barbara, so a share of the conference title or the title outright still is in their grasp. Should there be a tie at the top, UCSB would take the the No. 1 seed into the conference tournament, as it twice beat Pacific this season and thus owns the tiebreaker.

It’s a dream come true for him, and at first glance, a good move for the Thunder and its fans.

His enthusiasm is tempered with good business sense. He mentioned that he is a very competitive person, but understands the realities of minor league hockey and the player movement involved. And he plans to rely on the successful staff which is already in place.

In his introductory comments, Rowbotham used a few notes, but not a prepared text. He comes off as a decent fellow and huge hockey fan who happens to have enough dough to but a pro franchise.

My first thoughts is that he may have a lot ot learn about owning a team, but he loves the game and wants to win.

That’s a pretty good combination.

The 41-year-old replaces Michael Reinsdorf, who brought the team to Stockton in 2005. Reinsdorf’s biggest contribution to the franchise was being smart enough to put longtime Stocktonian Dan Chapman in charge of the front office and basically stay out of his way. The Thunder has led the league in attendance in each of its first four seasons and is a respectable third this season by about only 173 fans per game.

Rowbotham plans to keep Chapman, the office staff and on-ice staff in tact. He won’t have any time to make any wholesale changes this season, as he won’t take the reigns before March. But he said all the right things, especially that he’s not going to move the team, during his news conference Monday morning at the arena.

Most everyone who said they have met Rowbotham said the same thing: “You’ll like the guy.” After spending about an hour in his presence, as part of the assembled gathering and in one-on-one conversations, I can add myself to that list. He seems genuine, friendly, approachable … likeable. He wants to visit Stockton during the season, something Reinsdorf found difficult from his base in Chicago. That will be a welcomed change.

Pacific leads 33-29 at halftime, which means the Aggies are on pace for 58. The key? Jahmar Young had zero points until the final minute of the half, but scored the last four for New Mexico State. Young averages 20.9 per game.

Extra credit goes to athletic director Lynn King for wearing white pants to go with his white shirt and the Orange Army for actually painting themselves white with Tiger stripes.