WAYNESBORO – In 1975, Rob Beaumont, fresh out of West Chester University, arrived in Waynesboro.
Beaumont, from Media in southeastern Pennsylvania, was a football guy. He played it in high school and college, and he was looking for a coaching job. What he got was something different. But he was no stranger to that “different” sport – gymnastics.
“I majored in health and physical education, and we were required to participate in two sports to be in the phys ed program,” the Penn Crest High School graduate said. “I played football, and I tried out for the gymnastics team to fulfill my sport requirements. I was totally into football, but I was not good enough to compete on the gymnastics team, but I got to work out with the team.
“The female gymnastics coach approached my gymnastics coach and asked if he would let me work with the girls’ team, and he said, ‘Yes.’ I learned so much about women’s gymnastics that year.”
Beaumont’s experience in gymnastics laid the groundwork for a 14-year stint as the Waynesboro Area Senior High School gymnastics coach. He was the first coach of the newly-sanctioned program, coaching from 1975 to 1989.
Beaumont filled out numerous applications before zeroing in on the southcentral Pennsylvania high school.
“While I was (sending applications), the head football coach from Waynesboro, Bob Mesaros, called my head football coach and said he needed a strange combination of a health and physical education instructor, a football coach, and a gymnastics coach. I had an interview and got the job. I taught health and physical education, coached football, and they asked me to start a gymnastics team.”
Beaumont went on to say that starting the gymnastics team was partly due to Title IX requirements. According to the law, schools had to have as many girls’ teams as boys.
“But there was a strong interest in gymnastics in Waynesboro because the YMCA had a strong program, and the girls wanted to compete for their high school. We started with basic leotards, and we had to use hand-me-down warmups from the track team.”
According to Beaumont’s recollection, Waynesboro had four meets. He said the Harrisburg area schools dominated the sport at the time, schools like Cedar Cliff, Hershey, Red Land and Cumberland Valley. Waynesboro became arch-rivals with Carlisle.
“At the time, I think there were around 240 schools that had gymnastics programs across Pennsylvania,” Beaumont said. “We were seen as outsiders by these other teams, and it was very difficult to compete on the higher level because the other teams did not want to travel an hour to compete with us. Also, when we became more competitive, District 3 advanced only two teams to the district level. If we did well and came in the top two, one of their teams were excluded. Unfortunately, politics became involved.”
Beaumont needed an assistant coach, and he asked Bonnie Wolfe to fill the role. Wolfe had been involved in the YMCA team for years. She knew the girls on the team, and they liked her.
“We set out to establish ourselves as a competitive team,” recalled Beaumont. “We had many outstanding gymnasts throughout the years, and I am not going to name names because I will inadvertently omit someone. What I do know is that when you have a team, everyone’s contribution is important. Your best girl may score the most points, but if you don’t have girls working hard to contribute to the team score, you are not going to win meets.”
Wolfe eventually retired from coaching, and Toya (Kline) McCleary became the assistant coach. During these years, Waynesboro became its most competitive as a team.
“For one year, we had Alison (Margin) Donnely as the assistant coach while she was home from college. I left Waynesboro to be an assistant principal at James Buchanan High School in Mercersburg.”
After Beaumont, Nica Such became the head coach. Her assistants were Jennifer Evans and Mike Daugherty.
Then, A.J. Gehr served as head coach, assisted by April King, Nancy Hospelhorn and Amy (Fleagle) Dennis.
And then, Amy Dennis’ tenure followed. Dennis remains the head coach to this day. She has been assisted by Michelle Geesaman, Liz Shank, Jess (Weber) Yingling and now Charlen Hutchins.
EDITOR’S NOTE: This article is the first in a series of three stories about the Waynesboro Area Senior High School gymnastics program. Gymnastics was added to the list of WASHS sports in 1975 and was coached by Rob Beaumont.
