Why is GFU’s Stunt Team so Big this Year?
Photos by Billie Throm
Article by Jayden Forsyth
NEWBERG, Ore. – In the past two years, a new sport has taken George Fox University (GFU) by storm. Likewise, the team for this sport has taken their division by storm. This increasingly popular sport is stunt, and it has been wildly successful in the short time it has been at GFU.
Starting in 2024, GFU’s stunt team has had a dominant performance, placing third in Division III nationals and winning the Division III national championship in the 2025 season. The team is good at what they do, but due to being new on campus, not many people know what the team does.
“Stunt is more competition-based and fast-paced than cheer is,” said Eryn Gates, a sophomore stunt athlete at George Fox University. “In cheer, you go up against multiple teams and it can last all day. In stunt, it’s a one-on-one competition, where both teams perform the same thing, and whoever does it best, wins.”
A stunt competition has four quarters with four focus areas. There are partner stunts in the first quarter, while the second quarter involves pyramids and tosses, where large groups form to create structures and aerial acrobatics. In the third quarter, teams focus on jumps and tumbling.
The final quarter sees athletes compiling a full routine with all of the previous elements, displaying teamwork skills. Gates herself is a tumbler, meaning she completes rolls in unison with other performers.
Coaches select routines for their teams to perform from a predetermined list. Each routine has a difficulty rating and both teams perform the same routine simultaneously. Judges then award points based on execution.
If both teams perform perfectly, the point can be withheld. Ties are broken by a sudden-death routine. In this year’s national championship, George Fox University’s stunt team won 9-7 against Muskingum University of Ohio.
Gates theorized that stunt has grown because cheerleaders, dancers and gymnasts enjoy participating in something more readily recognized as a sport. She also attributes the team’s growth to the novelty of the sport itself. According to her, stunt only emerged less than ten years ago.
Stunt is not an easy sport, nor is it safe. Gates has three concussions from competitions and practices and mentioned that fellow stunt athletes are often heading to the medical trainers due to injury.
Regardless, the George Fox University stunt team is performing well. Reba McLennan, the team’s coach, is optimistic about the team’s future after its impressive start and believes that this year's team is on the road to “its best season yet”.
