SPOKANE — The Ephrata High School cheer and stunt team kicked off its competition series Saturday, Nov. 15, at Ferris High School for its first meet of the season.

The EHS cheer and stunt team competes in the varsity coed "Traditional" and "Game Day" divisions.

According to cheer head coach Heather Wood, "Game Day is made up of elements the crowd would see at a football game – band, dance, chant, cheer and fight song."

"Traditional," she explained, "is more of a showcase of stunts and crowd involvement."

The Tigers scored 46.7 points in the traditional division with six points in deductions and finished fourth out of four teams. University High School (Spokane) claimed the division title with 80.8 points and punched its ticket to the state meet Feb. 6-7 at Battleground High School. North Central High School (Spokane) also qualified for state with 66 points, followed by host Ferris 61.7 points) and Ephrata. Teams need 65 points to advance to state.

Coach Wood, in her 14th year leading the program, was pleased with the result. The deductions, she said, were likely caused by "new member jitters" and such miscues as stepping on pompoms during the routine. Wood voiced confidence that her squad will sharpen its routines with upcoming meets and achieve qualifying scores.

In Game Day competition, the Tigers scored 58.2 points with one deduction – below the 70-point tally needed to qualify for state – and placed third out of five teams. Ferris won the division with 76.5 points followed by University with a score of 75.3, with both qualifying for state. Ephrata was trailed by Colville (54.1 points) and Pasco (48.1).

Ephrata has fielded a stunt team over the past decade, and last year advanced to state and placed fourth in both traditional and game-day divisions.

For their next competition, the Tigers will travel to Mead High School on Saturday, Nov. 22, when they are scheduled to face teams from Lewis and Clark High School (Spokane) and Colville in game day, and Tonasket, Ferris, Richland, and North Central (Spokane) in traditional.

That event will be followed by visits to Bothell, Hanford, Pasco, and Moses Lake for upcoming competitions.

Members of the 2025-26 cheer and stunt team are Annjolenn Ahmann, Hannah Allen, Carson Andrus, Jacob Bartlett, Amalya Bastida, Jaelyn Brown, Payton Canfield, Isabelle DeHerrera, Brody Fleurkens, Bryson Fleurkens, Chastaty Garcia-Zepeda, Alexys Hallatt, Izzlee Haney, Victor Hernandez Gutierrez, Cooper Kriete, Kimberly Ortiz, Michael Park, Charles Poirrier, Madilynn Pruneda Gonzales, Yaritza Rodriguez Gomez, Kennedy Schafer, and Scarlett Uribe.