Youngest Ute gymnast Tory Wilson gaining confidence

SALT LAKE CITY — She'll be 18 years old in a little over a month, but Tory Wilson hasn't taken advantage of being the youngest member of the top-ranked Utah gymnastics team like she probably could.

Rather, Wilson has made no excuses and has done nothing but impress her coaches and teammates as she's tried to fit in to the Red Rocks' system.

"She is such a powerful gymnast," said Ute senior Stephanie McAllister. "I wish I could do gymnastics as big as she does. She's also such a positive person that it adds a lot to our team."

Wilson never expected to start her collegiate gymnastics' career early. But she was open to the opportunity after growing somewhat bored with her club career. It wasn't that she wasn't having fun or being challenged, but rather that she had been competing at Level 10 for five years. No upward movement was available for the Albuquerque native.

"At the first of my junior year of high school, I had the scholarship offer come in from Utah. Then Greg and Megan (Marsden) talked to me about coming a year early," said Wilson. "I never knew it was going to be so much work."

Wilson laughs now, but admits the rigorous schedule last year was pretty brutal, even for a hyper teenager.

"It was really hard. I had morning practice for gym, and then I went to school all day," she said. "After that, I had afternoon practice and night school. Then I would go home to do homework for regular school and then I would finally get to sleep."

Another tricky part of the equation was that Wilson had to spend the summer finishing up her senior classes, meaning she missed out on the bridge program where Utah's other four freshmen came early to ease the adjustment to campus life.

"It's been a process with her," said Utah co-head coach Greg Marsden.

"Because she was finishing up high school through summer, she didn't get the same experience as the other freshmen. She was a little bit of an outcast because the others knew each other well.

"But I've seen her maturing every week and she's getting more and more confident and comfortable with the team and in the arena."

Wilson admits it was difficult to be the last girl to the ball, and even second-guessed her decision to graduate early from high school.