“Sandi Thomas has been like a souped-up Corvette matching horsepower against worn­ out Volkswagens in the Southern Oregon Conference this season. No one has touched the fleet Medford junior in either the 100- or 200-meter hurdles and no one has approached her towering efforts in the long jump”, reported the Medford Mail Tribune. Said Medford coach Dean Benson: “She showed in grade school that she was going to be a good athlete, she’s a hyper person … go, go, go … has a great per­sonality that just bubbles, and she has so much enthusiasm that she just gets after and tries everything, doing a lot of things well.”

Sandi certainly earned her nickname, “Tommy Tornado”: Southern Oregon Pen­tathlon Champion 1977-78; All State Track Team in long jump 1978 and 79′; All State Track Team in hurdles 1979; 1979 High Point Girl at Oregon State Track Meet with 25 points. At the 1979 KMED Sportscaster Banquet, Sandi was awarded the Outstanding Girl Athlete and Outstanding Academic Athlete Awards at Medford, graduating in the top 5% with a 3.9 GPA.

Jan Crisp, Sandi’s High School Track Coach reports her records still held at Medford High School include: 440 yd relay @ 49.l; 400m relay @ 48.9; 110yd hurdles@ 14.6; 100m hurdles@ 14.6; 200m hurdles@ 28.6; long jump@ 19’1″; 1978-79 Oregon Long Jump Champion.

Also active in Gymnastics, Sandi earned; 2nd in uneven bars at District in 1977 and 1st place in 1978; won District Vault in 1976 and 1977, with 2nd in 1978; placed 10th in State on bars in 1978, and in diving placed 5th at Dis­trict in 1977.

While attending University of Idaho on a track scholarship, Sandi set records in long jump@ 18’10-1/2″; 100m hurdles@ 14.6 and the 400m relay @ 48.9. With foot problems putting an end to her participation, Sandi transferred and completed her education at Southern Oregon State College with a B.S. Degree in Biology.