Updated: Live Blog of Gymkana Viewing Party for America's Got Talent

Updated 10:18 p.m.

The last of the video clips from the team and coach is over, and the viewing party has fizzled out to a few dozen people, so I'm going to duck out.

Information on voting for AGT teams is available on the show's website.

Thanks for following along for tonight's America's Got Talent semifinals.

Updated 9:58 p.m.

Gymkana member Lizzy Mclellan, a junior and three-year member, said that the troupe members here at the viewing party were on the edge of their seats as the 15 members performed live tonight on AGT.

"It's really hard ... We know how much precision goes into this," Mclellan said.

She said that throughout the competition, the troupe tried to avoid a division between those who competed at AGT, and those who did not. "It's been really important to us to have the whole team involved," she said.

And of course, they're still pulling for their troupe and putting the votes in tonight.

"They did a great job," Mclellan said.

In case you missed the performance, Gymkana broke out a stack of chairs while members balanced on the top. Other members flipped in every which direction over what appeared to be a sort of barrier, crisscrossing each other's pathways and carefully timing the rhythm so they didn't fly into each other.

It was the ring of fire that tangled a troupe member, ending the performance.

Updated 9:53 p.m.

I'm going to try to catch some Gymkana team members who are here. Let me know what questions you have by leaving a comment below, or Tweet at me at @CollegePrkPatch.

AGT host confirms that the team member who leapt into the fire ring is A-Okay. The medic checked him out.

The room here is almost empty, now.

Updated 9:46 p.m.

After watching some of the hellos from the team, we've switched back to AGT. Some here are filtering out of the lecture room. Many are sticking around to watch more performances.

Updated 9:40 p.m.

Alumni Barton says that it was still a good performance, and the troupe was able to pull together a great routine in a week with a lot of different aspects to it. She also says it was probably an adjustment going to the smaller stage than what the troupe is used to.

Updated 9:38 p.m.

Sharon: You were like little lemmings, she said. She wants to know where the expression was on the athletes' faces. The crowd here groans at Howie's "burning" joke.

And their phones are out to text in votes for Gymkana.

Updated 9:36 p.m.

Piers: "At this stage in the competition, that could prove a very, very bad error." The host wins the crowd back by telling Piers that if he wouldn't have buzzed Gymkana, they probably wouldn't have been so nervous to hit the fire ring.

Updated 9:35 p.m.

Obviously, there's tension in the room right now, as one Gymkana troupe member leapt into the fire ring.

Updated 9:35 p.m.

Gasps as the troupe gets its first buzz.

Updated 9:33 p.m.

People here at the viewing party are not happy at all the the host just referred to the troupe as a dance team.

Updated 9:30 p.m.

The troupe members who are here at the party seem to be enjoying the pieces of video during commercial breaks. If I didn't explain it clearly enough earlier, Coach Welsh and the 15 Gymkana troupe members performing live tonight put together a video to say "hello" to everyone at the viewing party.

The clip they just showed included a team member falling into a van seat. They liked that.

Updated 9:29 p.m.

And the crowd explodes in applause and cheers as a short video of Gymkana appears at the end of the segment.

Updated 9:22 p.m.

The viewing party crowd goes "awww" at the photo of the magician Landon Swank cuddling with a rabbit. And a murmur rolls over the crowd as Swank completes his magic trick. Howie: "It was an unbelievable stunt." Piers says Swank was a dark horse. It was brilliant magic that could bring him close to the top 10. Sharon: The whole presentation was sensationally executed.

But what does alum Barton say?

"I don't think anyone agrees with that."

Updated 9:21 p.m.

Rebecca Barton, Gymkana alum, is sitting next to me here at the party. She said that Fatally Unique was pretty good, but it will be interesting to see what Coach Scott Welsh has planned. She said he said it would be a "hot" performance. What that means? Barton thinks there will be fire involved.

Updated 9:18 p.m.

We're watching a video that the Gymkana team filmed as a hello to the rest of the team and the viewing party.

Updated 9:15 p.m.

Fatally Unique performed. Sharon said they move with such speed and precision. Howie said it's the year of the dance, but there are so many great dance groups. Was Fatally Unique unique enough, he asks? Piers said that with this performance, Fatally Unique is one step closer to the $1 million.

Updated 8:59 p.m.

The photos from the Gymkana practice area added, but I don't have time to edit them and weed out the bad ones -- the shows about to begin! We're all heading to the lecture room to watch America's Got Talent!

Updated 8:39 p.m.

Murray said that the School of Public Health Dean Robert S. Gold and his wife traveled to California, and they will be watching the semifinals in person.

Update 8:34 p.m.

Current 11-year coach Scott Welsh was Murray's former athlete.

Since Welsh has been coach, the troupe grew from about 30 to 40 team members to up to 100 members.

Murray said that he talked to Welsh on the phone a few nights ago. Welsh told him: "You know, if we don't do anything else, we've already received a tremendous amount of recognition nationally." He told Murray that he had half a dozen letters on his desk, and the phone calls were pouring in, requesting shows. These requests are coming in from across the country, and are all totally paid for.

Update 8:30 p.m.

Murray said that since 1946, SGA used to support Gymkana with funds to put on a home show. When Gymkana decided to pledge to drug-free living, SGA did not want to support the troupe anymore. SGA told the program leaders that anyone should be able to join Gymkana, whether they were drug free or not. The troupe now had to start fundraising on its own, and one of the biggest fundraisers of the troupe is the Gymkana camp.

Update 8:28

It wasn't until 1985 that Gymkana adopted the drug-free pledge that it still pledges today. Until this day, Gymkana promotes drug free, healthy living to the schools that it visits. The troupe was suddenly in very high demand by schools, that wanted Gymkana to take their drug-free message to their schools.

Update 8:25

Murray said that the Gymkana troupe has faced many challenges over its history. Sometime between 1953 and 1980s, the coach at the time had to make several of the props that Gymkana used for its acts by himself. This man was never paid a cent for coaching Gymkana, Murray said.

Update 8:20 a.m.

Dr. Joseph Murray, Gymkana director and head coach from 1985-2001, is sharing the history exhibition gymnastics, and the program here at the University of Maryland.

Did you know that anyone can join the Gymkana troupe, despite previous gymnastics experience or ability?

Gymkana has been here at the university since 1946, and Murray said that many of the acts the troupe used to do, they still do today.

Murray said that early on, Gymkana earned the title "ambassadors of good will." The troupe used to travel to military bases, abroad, and so on. Today, the troupe performs at campus sporting events and schools.

Update 8:15 p.m.

A Gymkana member begins speaking. He said there were over 10,000 video submissions on YouTube, and producers selected 20 to appear on YouTube. From there, 12 of the 20 moved on to compete in America's Got Talent.

Only 15 troupe members were allowed to compete.

"It made for an extremely difficult decision" to select form a team of over 80 members, member says.

On August 9, the troupe competed on stage in America's Got Talent in front of an estimated 14 million voters, and now they're known as "America's Got Talent's most professional amateur act."

Update 8:11 p.m.

I've arrived at the Gymkana viewing party at the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland. No events have begun yet, but the troupe members not competing tonight have just finished warming up. They'll be entertaining us with some of their own acrobatics.

I'll try my best at some action shots for ya'll.

Original Post, 8:30 a.m.

The University of Maryland's Gymkana troupe will compete in NBC's variety talent competition, America's Got Talent semifinals, on Tuesday night.

College Park Patch will live blogging from a viewing party at the university. Start watching the Patch site sometimes between 8 and 9 p.m. for updates.

The group, established at the university in 1946, performs acrobatics and gymnastics routines at campus events and at area schools. Troupe members sign a pledge to remain drug-, alcohol- and tobacco-free, and encourages youth to live healthy lifestyles. The troupe won enough voter support following its Aug. 9 performance to continue.

The live competition airs at 9 p.m.