2000 - 2001
Director: Joseph Murray
Head Coach & Assistant Director: Scott Welsh
Assistant Coaches: Josh Montfort, Todd Supple, Robert Nelligan
Officer Body
President: Jon Engel
Vice President: Billy Rappolt
Secretary: Aimee Becker
Treasurer: Justin Williamson
Historian: Mary Smith
Award Recipients
Best Act: Uneven Bars - Rebecca Berkowitz, Karen Breit, Tricia Burrows, Diana Garret, Lynda Goldberg, Rachel Griffin, Becky Long, Elior Parness, Rachel Pedri, Nicole Saddic, Beth Smith, Mary Smith, Shannon Teates
Best Female Trouper: Mary Smith
Best Male Trouper: Billy Rappolt & Michael Thompson
Healthy Living with Positive Thinking
In Fall 2000, the Troupe experienced more transitions with Coach Montfort stepping down from his role of the Head Coach, but still continued to serve on the coaching staff. Dr. Murray remained as the Director of Gymkana, but his full-time position with the College of Health and Human Performance left him very little time to be involved with daily coaching.
“My position as Assistant to the Dean takes a tremendous amount of time. Consequently, this is the first year since I began coaching in 1967 that I have not actually coached. Not being in the gym each day and not being a part of the day-to-day excitement and experiences has been extremely difficult for me.”
- Dr. Joseph Murray
That responsibility was left to newly appointed Head Coach Scott Welsh and coaching staff. With the veteran leadership of the coaches and senior members, the Troupe continued on as it always does and concluded its performance season with their annual Home Show, scheduled on March 30 and 31, 2001. However, it did not go as planned.
Home Show week is always a chaotic experience, but for 2001, chaos was taken to a whole new level. Even from the start it appeared that things would be difficult. Because of job-related responsibilities, Dr. Murray would not be there for much of the week, so this would be Scott Welsh's first time in charge of the entire operation. Little did anybody know how much of a challenge it would turn out to be.
Gymkana has always tried to schedule Home Show in April, so that it does not conflict with the basketball season and other major events. But due to various schedule conflicts, March 30th and 31st were the only days on which Home Show could take place. But that week there was always a small chance that if the Maryland men’s basketball team went to the NCAA Final Four, Gymkana might lose Cole. Since the Terps had never made it that far before, it seemed like an acceptable risk. So the Troupe was scheduled to set up equipment on Sunday, the 25th, and practice in Cole throughout the rest of the week, with dress rehearsal on Wednesday night.
But as the games progressed and Maryland kept winning, coaches and troupers all felt a mix of pride in their team and dread at what might be coming. What if the team made the Final Four? Of course they would need Cole Field House in order to practice before heading to the tournament the next weekend. So when Saturday night, the 24th, came and the Terps came out on top, the telephone calls started flying back and forth. Could the Troupe still get the equipment into Cole? If so, when? The answer - Gymkana could move its equipment into Cole's storage rooms, but it had to be done that very night because the Terps would be arriving back home the next morning and, with thousands of fans expected to come out to congratulate them, it was shaping up to be a madhouse.
Calling around, the coaches and Gymkana officers were able to contact about half the troupers. The rest were still arriving back from Spring Break, which had taken place that week. Those who could make it came in around 10:00 p.m. that night and worked until the morning hours hauling equipment over to Cole and storing it.
As expected the Terps needed Cole for the first part of the week. So instead of Gymkana working out there for the entire week, it now appeared that the troupers would have to get by with setting up the equipment and having dress rehearsal all on that Wednesday night (after the basketball team left for the tournament), with Thursday as a day for light practice and dealing with any remaining problems. For Monday and Tuesday, the Troupe would have to stay in the gymnastics gym.
Then on Monday, when everybody was just getting used to these changes, the Athletics Department made another modification. Because of all the enthusiasm for the Terps, they decided to put up a large projection screen in Cole on Saturday to allow Maryland students and staff to watch the Saturday night game.
Of course this hit the Troupe hard. Many troupers were dispirited. After a year's work, the final Home Show had to be cancelled. So now it was down to only two days of practice in Cole, then one Home Show. Was it time to just call it a day and cancel everything? The coaches talked it over, and then with the troupers. Everyone agreed - even if only for one night, the show would go on. Letters went out to the alumni and the Athletic Department put out ads thanking Gymkana for going along with the change and noting that Home Show would only be on Friday night, the 30th.
For the early part of the week, the Troupe pulled together, doing what little could be done to prepare for Home Show. Then on Wednesday night, everybody worked in a mad scramble to put up the equipment and staging. Dress rehearsal went until after midnight and was filled with the usual mixups. Exhausted, everyone finally went home to get some sleep, many of them wondering if anything had been forgotten, or even if the Troupe could pull off the show two days later.
Well, being Gymkana, the troupers really went all out and gave a spectacular show before an enthusiastic audience and the Troupe received a standing ovation at the Finale. Fortunately many alumni had been able to change their plans and come on Friday. Despite all the turmoil, it had been well worth it.
In his speech to troupers on Monday, when trying to decide whether or not to go on with Home Show, Coach Welsh had told the troupers, "This could be our finest moment." For those who were there, it certainly was.
2001 Performance Itinerary
February 2: Easton Middle School – Easton, MD
February 9: Oxon Hill Middle School – Oxon Hill, MD
February 23: Margaret Brent Middle School – Helen, MD
March 2: Piccowaxen Middle School – Newberg, MD
March 9: Hagerstown Community College – Hagerstown,MD
March 15: Freedom Elementary School – Sykesville, MD
March 16: Centreville Middle School – Centreville, MD
March 30 & 31: Cole Field House, Home Show – 7:00 p.m.