Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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Climbing Hills For A Cause Softball coach Deanna Gumpf completed a marathon bike ride for cancer fundraising By Dan Murphy Northern Indiana has nothing that compares to the foothills of the Berkshires in western Massachusetts. Deanna Gumpf learned that the hard way this summer, with burning legs strapped into a 20-pound bicycle frame. The Irish softball coach was one of thousands of cyclists to pedal their away across the length of the Bay State during a hot, humid early August weekend. Gumpf and most of her fellow riders covered 192 miles in less than 48 hours as part of the annual Pan Mass Challenge. Two months earlier, she hopped on a bike for the first time since she was a kid and began training. The one thing Gumpf couldn’t prepare for on South Bend’s flatter-than-a-softball-pitcher’s-mound roads was the hills. Then again, she’s a seasoned veteran when it comes to unexpected ups and downs. Gumpf’s 6-year-old daughter, Tatum, was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia on July 20, 2010. The past 26 months have been a wave of chemo-filled valleys and heart-warming crests for Gumpf and her family. The Pan Mass Challenge, a fundraiser that donates 100 percent of its money to cancer research, is her latest crest. It was a chance to pump away the hopelessly helpless feeling of standing by and watching Tatum fight for her life. “You’re always looking for things to do to feel like you’re doing something to help,” she said. Gumpf and the Irish softball team have found several ways to lend a hand to children with cancer. The team raised more than $25,000 during its first StrikeOut Cancer weekend last season. The Irish morphed the nationwide event normally held to provide breast cancer funding into an “orange weekend” for childhood cancer in South Bend. Later this month, they will all spend a day in Indianapolis helping an organization that provides “bags of fun” for children who are about to begin chemotherapy. It took Gumpf less than five minutes to decide to ride in the Pan Mass Challenge when she learned about it this winter — even though she didn’t own a bicycle at the time. She was at a coaching workshop in Denver when the conversation turned to Tatum and another coach mentioned the ride. The other coach, Kris Herman, is from Williams College, not far from the starting line in hilly western Massachusetts. Herman runs a non-profit organization called Team Impact that helps children diagnosed with a variety of serious illnesses. She’s biked across the state seven times for the fundraiser and served as Gumpf’s personal coach this summer. “We stayed in touch quite a bit, and we found that we were pretty sympatico in a lot of ways,” Herman said. “A lot of early text messages, I would send her pictures from when I was out on rides on these massive hills to try to make her nervous — which was successful.” Herman was one of several friends who tagged along on Gumpf’s rides this summer. The coach learned the basics of long-distance cycling: how to clip into her pedals without falling, how to get out of her seat for a little extra power, how to change a tire or fix a loose chain. The training came with its bumps and bruises, but Gumpf said it was peaceful. It was a mission where she had control, and one she knew she could complete. By mid-July she could put in 60 miles on the road in a morning. She nearly doubled that on the first day of the actual challenge. The nearly 5,500 participants all set off from Stockbridge, Mass., at 5 a.m. wearing matching jerseys the first morning. Ten hours and 110 miles later they stop to spend the night in a dorm room near the edge of Cape Cod. Along the way they cruised past one another while chatting. “Who’re you riding for?” replaced normal greetings. Gumpf’s story drew some attention from fellow riders, especially on the second day when she wore a Notre Dame shirt in the heart of Boston College country. The president of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, the beneficiary of the ride, has a brother who graduated from Notre Dame, and he donated to Gumpf’s cause when he learned about the connection. In total, she raised more than $8,000 for the event. She said the most grueling part of the two-day event was peeling herself off the dorm-room mattress at 5 a.m. to start the second day, an 82-mile stretch that ends at the tip of Cape Cod in Provincetown, Mass. “The first thing we do in the morning is go over the bridge. That’s the first hour we’re on the bike. That was hard, that first bridge. And then my chain fell off, and I fell,” Gumpf said. “The greatest motivation though is if you’re riding for somebody. Look what she deals with. Are you kidding me? This is nothing.” There were days in the past two years when Tatum spent as many hours hooked up to a chemo drip as Gumpf spent on a bicycle seat that weekend. Watching her toddler change physically was a struggle for the coach. Softball didn’t matter for the first few months. Her staff and her team became a release for Gumpf with time. Eventually long nights spent in the children’s hospital made her a better coach as well. Her emotional road map became much more northern Indiana and less western Massachusetts. “The bad isn’t so bad. The emotional roller coaster isn’t as high and low,” she said. “I think it helps everybody.” The ups and downs have leveled out for Gumpf and her daughter. The hills are never as big after you’ve crossed them once. Tatum’s last scheduled day of treatment is Sept. 25. Then the hope is she will live the rest of her life with nothing more than a few side effects. Each day that passes adds to the chances that the leukemia will never return. Gumpf will be back on her bike by then. The fundraising will continue and get bigger and better each year, she hopes. She’s already looking forward to next August when she plans to put in another 192 miles. Irish Roundup Men’s Soccer (3-0) Notre Dame took home its first adidas/IU Credit Union Classic title since 1993 during the first weekend of September thanks to a balanced offensive attack. Junior Harrison Shipp assisted both of senior Ryan Finley’s goals and added a score of his own in Notre Dame’s 3-2 win over San Diego State in the tournament opener. Two days later sophomore Alex Priede and senior captain Dillon Powers helped the Irish overcome an own goal and beat Clemson 2-1 for the title. The successful weekend pushed Notre Dame to No. 15 in the national rankings. The Irish will play nearby rivals Michigan State and Michigan on Sept. 14 and 16 before starting Big East play the following week. Women’s Soccer (3-2) The women’s Irish team had mixed results against some top competition during their first games of September. Notre Dame upset No. 16 Santa Clara 2‑1 at home thanks to a goal by sophomore Sammy Scofield in the 75th minute. They followed that win by dropping a 1-0 decision to perennial powerhouse No. 19 North Carolina. Freshman goalkeeper Elyse Hight made seven saves against the Tar Heels before giving up a goal with a little less than six minutes remaining in the game. The Irish offense was shut out for the second time in what has been an up-and-down season for the front line so far. The team lost 1-0 in its season opener to Wisconsin then posted nine goals in its next three games. They kick off a four-game home stand on Sept. 14 against Louisville. Volleyball (4-2) Notre Dame joined the men’s soccer team with a tournament win of its own. The hosting Irish swept the Shamrock Invitational with definitive wins against Buffalo, Eastern Kentucky and Alabama-Birmingham. Sophomore Jeni Houser set a career high with 20 kills in the tournament-clinching win over UAB. Her classmate Toni Alugbue won the tournament MVP award and made it on the Big East honor roll after a solid, mistake-free performance during the three weekend games. Houser, Alugbue and freshman Taylor Morey have all earned Big East accolades during the first two weeks of the season. Cross Country Both Irish cross country teams opened their seasons on Aug. 31 with second-place finishes at the Crusader Invitational in Valparaiso, Ind. The men’s team, which was ranked No. 25 nationally in the preseason, placed six runners in the top 10 — including senior Jeff MacMillan, who crossed the line in third place with a time of 19:20.7. Despite the strong team presence, Notre Dame fell two points short of Purdue in the final tally. The Boilermakers beat the No. 22-ranked Irish women by a slim six-point margin. Junior Meg Ryan was Notre Dame’s top finisher, placing second. The Irish host the annual National Catholic Championships on Sept. 14. — Dan Murphy