There've been so many great and popular gymnasts at Utah during her four seasons there that Sandy Woolsey kind of felt anonymous, even though she tied for the 1994 NCAA uneven bars title in the Huntsman Center and made scores in the 9.975 to 9.95 range a habit on bars and beam.
Not that she minded. Her teen years were spent in the spotlight as a top international-level gymnast who battled image and weight problems that left her burned out and bitter about the sport's politics. Ute sports psychologist Keith Henschen said Woolsey, even in her senior season, really preferred not having too much attention.That may have changed in the last week.
When she got that 10 on bars Saturday night in the Midwest Regional - won by Utah to send the two-time defending champs to the NCAA finals at Alabama next week - Woolsey soaked up the adoration in her last meet in Utah.
"Earning respect from the crowd means a lot to me," says Woolsey. "There's so many big names here. Sometimes the crowd gets a little spoiled because they get such a great caliber of gymnastics they won't accept less.
"So when they clap for you that loud, it's really nice. As much as you do it for yourself, you can't help liking a pat on the back," says Woolsey.
Woolsey scored 10 on beam Feb. 12 and on bars last year, but bars is what she's known for, and it looked like she'd go her whole senior season without a 10 on them; she had two 9.975s and five 9.95s. "I didn't think regionals would be the place," she says. "(Postseason) judging is more difficult."
She gave judges no choice Saturday. Woolsey recently added a hop-full skill to upgrade the difficulty and decided to emphasize straight-up handstands. Saturday, they couldn't have been straighter, especially her swingback-to-handstand, in which she flies from high bar to an immediate handstand on the low bar. It was the longest she'd ever held it. "Had I gone any bigger, I would have been over," she says. "I was living on the edge. It was definitely one of the best routines I've ever done, one of the best receptions I've ever gotten."
It didn't hit her that it really was her last career home meet until a Sunday newspaper column compared her to Ute greats like Megan Marsden, Missy Marlowe, Shelly Schaerrer, Kristen Kenoyer, Suzanne Metz and Aimee Trepanier. That made her realize, "there's no more I can do there (in Utah), and then it was like, `Whew! Wow! That was pretty good.'
"But now I guess it's back to the grind," she says, heading for one of the last practices before the NCAAs in Alabama, the last practices of her career. Her body (chronic shin splints) is ready to give it up, and Woolsey probably is, too. But this is a far better ending than what she had to her elite career. "When I came to college I didn't have a great taste in my mouth for gymnastics," she says, "and now I definitely leave the way you always want to."
She's not actually leaving. She'll be a student-assistant coach next year while doing an internship with a corporate fitness wellness center to complete an exercise and sport science major.