2017 - 2018

Director & Head Coach: Josh Montfort

Assistant Director: Ben Prescott

Assistant Coaches: Todd Supple, Angie Prescott, Sami Ahmed, Zoe Rosenblum

Officer Body

  • President: Dylan Taylor

  • Vice President: Brian Goncalves

  • Secretary: Jen Stanton

  • Treasurer: Jasmine Brown

  • Historian:  Charles-Ray Christian

Award Recipients

  • Best Act:  Free Movement – Charles-Ray Christian, Vijay Dev, Brian Goncalves, Kira Hattenburg, Kevin Merrick, Jason Nekritz, Cameron Simmons, Kevin Strasser and Dylan Taylor

  • Best Female Trouper: Alex Bean

  • Best Male Trouper: Dylan Taylor

always moving forward

Gymkana entered the 2017-2018 season with additions to the staff. With the increasing success and workload of the Saturday Program and summer camp, along with various administrative needs, Assistant Director Ben Prescott was brought up to full-time employment. Up until this point, Ben had been serving in a part-time role. This would be the first time in Gymkana’s history that two full-time staff would be employed solely for Gymkana.

Zoe Rosenblum was also added to the coaching staff. She grew up with Gymkana as a summer camper then as a trouper from 2007-2013. Prior to being officially hired as an assistant coach, Zoe was an integral part of the summer camp and Saturday Program as an instructor and volunteered much of her time helping troupers in the gym as an alumnus.

The show season was, of course, not without mishaps and setbacks. The annual performance at Hagerstown Community College was postponed due to an extreme wind storm in the College Park area. Luckily it was able to be rescheduled in the Troupe’s busy schedule. 

After a successful vaulting halftime show for Maryland Basketball, the team had difficulty putting out the fire hoop while on the court, even with the use of three fully functioning extinguishers. 

“After all of the fire extinguishers gave out, and many in the audience were laughing at the antics, we ended up smothering the fire with the tarp,” Director Josh Montfort remembers. Luckily, they’d just replaced the old canvas tarp with a more reliable welding blanket, and the flames finally went out. 

This year’s Home Show featured live drums by trouper Kevin Strasser to accompany acts such as uneven bars, free movement, and tumbling.

The Gymkana History Preservation Project continued this year, with over 6,000 photos from previous decades being identified, sorted, and shipped for digitization. Many of these photos you can find on this website today.

Itinerary

  • 2/9/2018 - Dayton Oaks Elementary School - Dayton, MD

  • 2/10/2018 - UMD vs. Northwestern men’s basketball halftime show - College Park, MD

  • 2/16/2018 - Parr’s Ridge Elementary School - Mt. Airy, MD

  • 2/23/2018 - Bayside Elementary School - Stevensville, MD

  • 3/2/2018 - Hagerstown Community College - Hagerstown, MD

  • 3/9/2018 - Mattawoman Middle School - Waldorf, MD

  • 3/16/2018 - William James Elementary School - Abingdon, MD

  • 4/6/2018 - Jemicy School - Owings Mills, MD

  • 4/13/2018 & 4/14/2018 - Gymkana Home Show

  • 4/28/2018 - Maryland Day - College Park, MD