As part of Gilman's 125th anniversary celebration, we are looking back at the history of varsity athletics at Gilman. As the winter season of athletics picks up, we wanted to share more about the history of Gilman's winter varsity teams. Read more about the history of spring sports and fall sports.

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Basketball

Interscholastic basketball at Gilman can trace its origin to the winter of 1919-1920, the first season that a Gilman basketball team played a full schedule. From the 1920 Cynosure yearbook: "For the first time in the history of the School a basketball team was formed which played a long schedule. In 1917 a team was formed after the soccer season closed which played two games with Marston's, one of which was won. The School basketball team had the unique distinction of playing a seven game schedule and losing them all." J. Thurston Davies coached the winless team. In 1921, Gilman Basketball entered the Preparatory League, but it wasn't until 1923 that the team saw its first win. Under Coach John "Nemo" Robinson, in 1950 the basketball team won its first Private School league championship. Coach Robinson led the varsity basketball team to seven Private School league championships during his tenure as head basketball coach from 1947 through 1962.

A highlight of Gilman basketball history came in the 1960s when, on February 27, 1967, the varsity basketball team played at the Civic Center in front of approximately 4,500 spectators, winning the division championship. Coached by Nick Schloeder, the team earned a season record of 13-1. Future Gilman basketball coach Sherm Bristow '67 was named one of the Outstanding High School Basketball Players in Baltimore by area coaches, The Baltimore Sun, and The News American. Gilman basketball has won a total of 14 championships to date. Coach Tony Jordan served as head varsity basketball coach from 1996 through 2008, and is varsity basketball's winningest coach, with a record of 178-160. Currently, the team is led by coach Will Bartz '99, who played for Coach Jordan as a student.

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Wrestling

There is some folklore surrounding the founding of interscholastic wrestling at Gilman. In a 1955 Gilman Alumni Bulletin article, Cooper Walker '33 explained that according to Florence Campbell Russell, in the late 1910s coach Edward T. Russell "spent his waking hours figuring out a way to get indoors" during the winter season. Mr. Russell created the Gilman wrestling program in 1918, and in 1920, Gilman hosted the first Maryland Interscholastic Wrestling Tournament. As Cooper noted in his 1955 article, "in the beginning, the grappling sport in Maryland was without form and void. Ed [Russell] saw his way of staying indoors in the winter and fashioned the Interscholastic Wrestling Association of Maryland, composed of Severn, Friends, Baltimore City College, and Gilman."

Mr. Russell organized the first interscholastic tournament on February 14, 1920, and invited all local schools to send entries in eight weight classes from 85 to 155 pounds, with prizes promised for the winner in each class. Nearly 300 spectators attended the event. Based on the success of this tournament, Mr. Russell helped form the Interscholastic Wrestling Association of Maryland, which later would merge with the Maryland Scholastic Association (MSA). Mr. Russell continued to lead Gilman's wrestling program and would even go on to help to organize the 50th Anniversary MSA wrestling tournament in February 1970.

In 1924, the varsity wrestling team won the league championship, beginning a winning streak that continued through 1932. In 1953, Gilman won its first MSA championship, ushering in another period of wrestling dominance, many of those under the direction of Head Coach Edward Brown '57 (103-31-1), who served as head coach from 1965-1980. The wrestling team has won a total of 16 MSA/MIAA varsity championships. The Haswell M. Franklin Gilman Duals began in 1984, and since its inception, schools from Connecticut, New Jersey, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, and Maryland have participated. Gilman wrestler Chris Legg '67 served as head coach from 1982-1995 and is wrestling's winningest coach with a record of 140-55. Assistant Athletic Director Bryn Holmes (a former National Prep and MIAA champion at McDonogh), currently serves as a head coach of the wrestling program.

Watch this video on the first 100 years of Gilman Wrestling.

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Ice Hockey

Edward W. Brown started the ice hockey program at Gilman. In a 1990 oral history interview, Brown explained the origin of ice hockey at Gilman:

"I always loved hockey. I played it as a kid. I just loved it. One day, or one winter, we had an unusual snow storm — ice storm, thaw and freeze, rain and freeze at Gilman — and we played hockey on the athletic field. And I just thought, golly, that would be wonderful to be able to play that all the time. This was in about 1924 and it wasn't until the early '30s that we got hockey going. It's such a good sport."

Listen to Edward Brown discussing the founding of the ice hockey program.

The first season of varsity ice hockey was in the winter of 1933-1934. The team played that year through 1940-1941, at one point outdoors near the Old Gym. Ice hockey returned as a varsity sport in 1991 under Coach Bob Bulkeley, and the team won its first of six MIAA B conference championships in 2004. Coach Zach Collins holds the best coaching record of 85-66-14. Coach Trevor Sattuck, who served as assistant coach under Collins, now leads the ice hockey varsity team.

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Swimming

Although a handful of students competed at MSA meets prior, swimming premiered at Gilman as a junior varsity team in the winter of 1976-1977, just months after the Gilman pool opened. Under the direction of Gilman's first Aquatics Director Herman Kelly, 38 swimmers competed that first year in the JV division of the MSA B Conference, winning the conference championship. During the winter of 1978-1979, the varsity swimming team won the MSA B Conference championship, the first of a total of seven MSA/MIAA championships. Coach Vaughan Smith took over the swimming program in 2015 from Ian Brooks, who served as head coach from 1989-1993 and again from 2001-2015.

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Indoor Track

In the early 1990s, Johnnie Foreman, already Gilman's track and field coach, organized an indoor track club to allow boys to run competitively in the winter. As Foreman recalled in the 2022 Gilman Bulletin:

"Indoor track was part of the public school program, but it was not part of the MIAA. So I started it as a club sport at Gilman. We rented space at the Essex campus of CCBC on Saturday mornings with other independent schools in the area. With help from Tim Holley '77, I wrote a proposal to the MIAA and the heads of independent schools. It took about two years and a lot of hard work, but then it became an MIAA-sanctioned winter sport. And it was popular. Because of my efforts, the championship Foreman Cup is named for me."

Thanks to the encouragement of Coach Foreman, in 1996-1997, indoor track became an official MIAA sport. Indoor track has since won a total of 11 MIAA regular season championships and six MIAA A conference championships. Coach Matt Tully '02, who as a student ran for Coach Foreman, now leads both the indoor and outdoor varsity track teams.

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Squash

Squash is Gilman's newest varsity winter sport. The Gilman squash team played its first season as a competitive interscholastic sport in the winter of 1997-1998. Head coach David Doherty took the program from club to varsity status, and in his eight seasons as squash head coach, Coach Doherty amassed 63 wins and national status for the squash program.

It would be 10 years before squash would become an official MIAA sport during the 2007-2008 season. Under the leadership of Coach Boo Smith '70 (202-21 win-loss record), between 2008 and 2017, the varsity team weht 130 and 0 in MIAA matches, winning 10 straight championships, and ranking seventh in the country after the 2016-2017 season. In 14 seasons of MIAA-sanctioned squash, Gilman's team has won a total of 12 MIAA Conference titles. Today, head coach Doug DeSmit, who was assistant coach under Smith, continues to lead the varsity squash program.