2021-2022

Bottom Row: North Koegel (Historian), Megan Miller (Treasurer), Eli Wilcox (Secretary), Katie Baith (Vice President) Kamaria Davis (President)

Second Row: Heather Ailinger (Class of 2021 Returned for Home Show), Kevin Okoli, Maxine Asenso, Nathaly Portillo, Ryan Tunkel, Karen Kemilembe, Sumbul Zehra, Henry Santer, Jason Yuen, Daniel Fu, Markus Ferrell, Nikos Koutsoheras, Edan Miller, Scott Barnes, Vijay Dev (Class of 2020 Returned for Home Show), Doria Pertea, Jaila Desper (Class of 2020 Returned for Home Show), Pat Fleming

Third Row: Marcus Dermatis, Seyi Ajayi, Angie McGonigle, Theo Davidson, Lara Geis, Sarah Molot, Alison Layton, Elena Fox-Bland, Ali Clingan, Aggie Baum, Dariel La Fleur, Raquel Ziolkowski, Sophia Marchionini, Montse Gomez, Mia Lulli, Mina Zuckerman, Julia Cauley (Class of 2021 Returned for Home Show)

Fourth Row: Nathan LeBauer, Javier Lorenzo, Peter DiGiacomo, Marin Fisher, Fiona Rioux, Matt Cauley, Alec Bayne, Abby Kahn, Stepheen Reji Abraham, Andre Kuzin, Viola Costen, Dennis Erickson, Ike Ekwunife

Fifth Row: Eddie Young, Ben Prescott, Angie Prescott, Faith Kung, Josh Montfort, Sami Ahmed

Not Pictured: Bryant Rivera-Cortez, Katherine Li, Jesse Hearn (Class of 2020 Returned for Home Show)

Director & Head Coach: Josh Montfort

Assistant Director: Ben Prescott

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

Officer Body

  • President: Kamaria Davis

  • Vice President: Katie Baith

  • Secretary: Eli Wilcox

  • Treasurer: Megan Miller

  • Historian: North Koegel

Award Recipients

  • Best Act: “Banter” - Partner Aerial Silks, Katie Baith & Henry Santer

  • Best Female Trouper: Megan Miller

  • Best Male Troupers: Scott Barnes, Markus Ferrell

A year of rebuilding

A year and a half after the University of Maryland initially locked down during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Gymkana Troupe made its long awaited return to fully in-person activities in September 2021. Although Gymkana was able to run a reduced capacity summer camp season, the financial impact of the shutdown still loomed heavy. The assistant coaching staff volunteered to work without pay for another season and Ben Prescott maintained his 50/50 split responsibilities serving as the School of Public Health’s interim facilities manager. Thankfully, the Gymkana Saturday Program classes made a full recovery and remained as popular as ever.

The principal challenge the troupe faced this season was to restart and rebuild the program with a small and relatively inexperienced core group of fewer than 25 students. It will have been 3 years since the Troupe last produced a Home Show in 2019. That meant that only the 4+ year members will have had any Home Show experience. The troupe also lacked an entire 2nd year member class, except for one, due to its inability to recruit during the prior season. There were also concerns of physical conditioning as a sudden return to activity was feared to lead to higher injury rates.

Nevertheless, the season began with a motivated troupe and coaching staff. Progress in all areas was quickly made. New recruits filled the roster and the presence of alumni members at practices helped to provide additional veteran mentorship.

Among the annual traditions that made a comeback in the fall semester were the Gymkana Flip-A-Thon, alumni open gym, and Mock Show.

The spring roadshow season began with a Maryland basketball halftime show on February 21, 2022. It featured the crowd-favorite fire hoop flips. The troupe performed 5 roadshows, followed by Home Show on April 22-23. Keeping a promise made to the graduating classes of 2020 and 2021, graduated alumni members from those seasons were invited to participate as performers in the 2022 Home Show. The program included the following dedication:

“The backdrop design from tonight’s performance was originally created for Home Show 2020, which was cancelled due to the pandemic. This Home Show is dedicated to that Troupe that had its season cut short, as well as to the 2020-2021 Troupe that kept Gymkana going despite not having an opportunity to train and perform together in person.”


Itinerary

2/21/2022 - Maryland vs. Penn St. men’s basketball halftime show

3/4/2022 - Theodore Davis Middle School, Waldorf, MD

3/11/2022 - Stevensville Middle School, Stevensville, MD

3/18/2022 - ​​Lime Kiln Middle School, Fulton, MD

4/1/2022 - Hagerstown Community College, Hagerstown, MD

4/8/2022 - Mattawoman Middle School, Waldorf, MD

4/22 - 4/23/2022 - Home Show, College Park, MD

4/30/2022 - Maryland Day, College Park, MD