Willie Banks wasn’t only Olympian jumping at Pasadena meet

Sandi Woepse was a high school Olympian in 1972.

I focused on Willie Banks on Saturday, squeezing his two events into a 6-minute video. With temperatures reaching the low 90s at the Pasadena Senior Games, it’s amazing Willie was able to perform as well as he did. He waited hours for his event to start. (He relaxed in the shade of a palm tree.) Even with Mike Powell and members of his family present, Willie conducted himself as just another jumper in a field of nine, including 84-year-old Don Leis (who went 5.27 or 17-3 1/2). I was surprised that Willie also high jumped. But since he entered the event with the bar at 1.61, he had perfect timing. one of his three tries at a world record 1.82 was good. He says he’ll try again for some records in late July. Another notable entry Saturday at Caltech was Sandra “Sandi” Woepse (her brother-in-law is former vault star Greg Woepse). As Sandra Goldsberry, she was the youngest member of the 1972 U.S. Olympic team and competed in the high jump at Munich, clearing 1.60 at age 16 in qualifying.

She didn’t make the finals, where fellow 16-year-old Ulrike Meyfarth of Germany won gold with a world record 1.92 (6-3 1/2). Sandi’s masters track comeback at age 61 — in the city of her birth — included the 50, 100 and long jump.

Here’s Sandi in the 100, trailing the legs of Rita Hanscom and Linda Cohn.