2020 - 2021

Director & Head Coach: Josh Montfort

Assistant Director: Ben Prescott

Assistant Coaches: Todd Supple, Angie Prescott, Sami Ahmed, Faith Kung

Officer Body

  • President: RJ Talamini-Kelemen

  • Vice President: Henry Santer

  • Secretary: Kamaria Davis

  • Treasurer: Megan Miller

  • Historian:  Nathan LeBauer

Award Recipients

  • Best Act: Chairs

  • Best Female Trouper: Heather Ailinger

  • Best Male Trouper: RJ Talamini-Kelemen


Gymkana75 - A Season Like No Other

The COVID-19 pandemic continued to rage on in the early Fall of 2020, making in-person activities not possible. The University of Maryland kept all classes online, with students and faculty remaining at home. Gymkana was entering its 75th season and for the first time in its history, Troupers were unable to train together in a gym to recreate their signature performance acts. To keep the team together and hopes of a healthy return to gymnastics training whenever that may come, the coaches and troupers organized regular meetings and daily workouts via Zoom. 

The pandemic shutdown also had other serious implications beyond physical deconditioning of the athletes. Recruiting new athletes was virtually impossible, which threatened the continuity of membership as the senior members graduate. Financially, with all classes and camps shut down, Gymkana’s primary source of funding was cut off. 

This season, the Troupe resolved to undertake two major projects. The first was to help ensure the program’s survival with fundraising. The second was to honor and celebrate this 75th anniversary with a virtual show.

Fundraising involved a stand-in of the annual Gymkana Flip-A-Thon with the GymkanaThon in November 2020 and an emergency campaign titled Reload the Truck in February 2021. The latter campaign was especially successful, with an outpouring of support from alumni and supporters to help Gymkana stay afloat. The effort raised over $46,000, which seemed auspicious for a program founded in 1946.

The virtual show turned out to be a success. It featured tributes to Gymkana’s history, congratulatory messages from notable figures, and creative new acts from current troupers. The show also acknowledged the outpouring of support from alumni and donors, including a special segment to honor the late coach Tom Cockley, who’s family established an endowment fund in his name to support Gymkana troupers after his passing in 2020. True to tradition, the show was followed by a virtual alumni “party” for viewers to mingle and chat, albeit completely online.


Itinerary

11/21/2020 - GymkanaThon

4/17/2021 - 2021 Gymkana Virtual Show - A Celebration of 75 Years