Bonsall, Former Gymnastics Coach, Dies
February 25, 2015 03:50 PM | General
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| Gymnastics coach Bill Bonsall led West Virginia to three Southern Conference championships and a fifth-place finish at NCAA nationals in 1963. Here he is pictured with standout WVU gymnast Jerry Spencer. | |
| WVU Athletic Communications photo |
Bonsall, who died last weekend in Morgantown at age 91, was West Virginia’s men’s gymnastics coach for 31 seasons from 1952-1980, the Philadelphia native leading the Mountaineers to three Southern Conference championships and a fifth-place finish at NCAA nationals in 1963.
He came to WVU after a highly decorated gymnasts career at Penn State where he won individual NCAA titles in 1942, 1946 and 1948 before competing for USA in the 1948 Summer Olympic Games in London.
Bonsall earned his bachelor’s degree at Penn State in 1949 and then received his master’s degree from WVU in 1950. In the meantime, he coached men’s gymnastics, then a club sport, until it was elevated to varsity-sport status in 1952. Bonsall also taught in the WVU School of Physical Education until his retirement in 1980.
He was inducted into the United States Gymnastics Hall of Fame and the West Virginia sportswriters Hall of Fame in 1983, the Delaware County Chapter of the Pennsylvania Sports Hall of Fame in 1995, and was also inducted into the WVU School of Physical Education and WVU Sports halls of fame.
In 1996, Bonsall was one of the torchbearers for the Olympic Torch Relay as the torch made its way across the country to Atlanta for the official Games that summer.
According to longtime West Virginia journalist Mickey Furfari, Bonsall enthusiastically promoted gymnastics in the area, oftentimes performing at halftime of men’s basketball games to increase awareness for the sport in front of large crowds at the old field house.
He also visited every high school in the state encouraging students to take up gymnastics. Among those who did was Parkersburg’s Jerry Spencer, considered the greatest gymnast in school history. Spencer continues to remain active in gymnastics as owner of the Glendale Gym Club in Parkersburg.
“What Coach Bonsall did with the men’s program with the resources he had to work with was amazing,” said retired WVU women’s coach Linda Burdette. “And they were good.”
Burdette recalled both teams having to share a small space in the balcony of the old field house to practice their routines.
“We used to joke that when the girls would dismount off of the uneven bar and the guys would dismount off the high bar they could join hands in the air before they landed, that’s how close we were together!” she said.
When the WVU Coliseum was built in 1970, Bonsall fought to have plates installed in the floor of the arena so his gymnasts could compete at the Coliseum instead of at the old field house. The original plans for the Coliseum did not include that feature.
“He wanted four plates put in the floor and they said they couldn’t do that,” Burdette recalled. “It was a battle and he won that one because they were put in the floor.”
Bonsall also wanted West Virginia University to serve as a host site for an NCAA men’s gymnastics regional, once submitting a bid to do so in 1963 as part of the state’s Centennial Celebration that year, but the meet ended up being awarded to another site. Bonsall was willing to do the publicity, write the event programs and do all of the work himself in order to host it.
“And he would have, too!” said Burdette.
As impressive as his athletic career was, hidden deep within Bonsall’s biography is something even more impressive … and heroic - his wartime service in Europe.
Bonsall enlisted in the U.S. Army following his freshman year at Penn State in 1942 and was among the first Allied troops to land on Normandy Beach during D-Day. Three months later, German forces captured Bonsall on September 5, 1944, in Dinant, Belgium – a strategic town where an important bridge crossed the Meuse River.
Bonsall remained in German captivity until escaping to Warsaw, Poland on January 31, 1945 as the Allies were making their final push toward Berlin. Years later, during the Vietnam War, Bonsall spearheaded a West Virginia organization dedicated to helping prisoners of war after their return to the States.
“He was quite an amazing person,” Burdette recalled. “He was a very caring coach. He looked out for his athletes and he wanted them to be successful in life.”
Near the end of his coaching career, Burdette recalled Bonsall having a gymnast named Lenny Hlasnick who was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident during the summertime before his senior year, requiring the amputation of his leg near his hip.
When Bonsall visited Hlasnick in the hospital he encouraged Lenny to continue his gymnastics career, not as a team manager but rather as a competitor. The NCAA granted Hlasnick an additional year of eligibility and he eventually worked himself back into competitive shape.
“There was a men’s and women’s meet in Pittsburgh when Lenny competed for the first time,” Burdette said. “They wanted his first meet to be there because he was from (the Pittsburgh area). He walked out on crutches and he put his crutches down and Coach Bonsall lifted him up to the high bar and he did the high-bar routine.
“When he dismounted he landed on one leg,” Burdette continued. “His entire family was there and the whole place was in tears. From that moment on I always respected Coach Bonsall for encouraging Lenny to continue his gymnastics career instead of just asking him to remain with the team as a manager.”
Bonsall enjoyed an active retirement. Bonsall and his wife Jean co-owned Paige Creations, the largest distributor of post cards in the state, until they sold their share of the business in 2004.
They have three grown children and seven grandchildren.
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