Competitive cheer is hard enough.

Unfortunately for Kingfisher High School, the difficulty level was sent to another degree this season.

Despite the many challenges, changes and other setbacks, KHS performed well enough last Saturday to earn another spot in the Class 4A state competition.

Kingfisher placed sixth in the regional competition at Westmoore High School.

Bethany and Heritage Hall were the regional champ and runner-up, respectively, and earned automatic bids. The Bronchos earned 258 points from the judges and Heritage Hall 253.4.

Those teams scoring 225 or more points also advanced to state.

That included KHS, which received a 230.8 from the judges.

Also advancing were Washington (246), Sulphur (244.2), Mount St. Mary (242.6) and Pauls Valley (225.2).

The expectation for Kingfisher to advance was there - this crop of seniors have reached state each year and were part of a state championship their freshman season - but it wasn’t a given.

Just one week before the regional, the team had to make its third major routine change as yet another injury disrupted what was in place for weeks.

“We knew it wouldn’t be perfect,” said coach Mackenzie Eppenbach. “But we hoped that it would be good enough to get us through to have one more week of practice to perfect the little things we knew we needed just a little more time with.”

The injuries started way back in the spring of the 2025-26 school year.

Shortly after trying out and earning a spot on the team for her senior year, Molly Weber, then a junior, tore her ACL in soccer.

The hits - the bad kind just kept coming.

Maddi Young and Bentlee Lack followed with their own severe knee injuries, which prompted multiple changes to the routine.

Eppenbach and the team were also able to coax a couple of former cheerleaders back into the fold as Kinlee East and Hadley Yost agreed to compete late in the process.

All the while, the team was going through the other “everyday” injuries suffered in cheer. Among them were Aubree East with a nagging hip issue and Maecyn Tollefson with a pulled muscle in her back on top of all the other ankles and wrists and elbows that were bruised, battered and hurting.

“Whether people know this or not, competitive cheer is very physically demanding,” Eppenbach said. “This sport can be very wearing on your body over time and then you factor in that we have multi-sport athletes and it can be more difficult for them to get the rest and recovery they need.”

ButEppenbachwouldn’t let the team sulk.

She only sought solutions.

“In life, it’s inevitable that you are going to face challenges; some big and some small,” she said. “While every injury has presented a new hurdle for us, we have faced it head on and found a solution.

“I like to say almost everything is ‘figure-out-able’ and if there is one thing that I want to instill in my athletes, it’s that we are resilient.”

It’s a mindset, said Eppenbach, and it’s one her team has embraced.

“Life will always have a curveball or a wildcard in its back pocket,” she said. “You have to choose how you’re going to handle it. Do you give up when the going gets tough or persevere?”

The team kept persevering through the summer and early fall, but were dealt yet another setback a week before the regional when junior Ryan Scammahorn - one of those multi-sport athletes - injured her knee.

That brought on the third major change to the routine…this one just days before the regional.

“Our choreographer was kind enough to come down and help rework a 15-person routine for 14 people,” Eppenbach said. “The changes that were made weren’t too drastic; that’s always the goal when a change does need to be made.

“Through it all, the girls have shown tremendous amounts of strength and flexibility.”

All the while, those who have been injured have been there to cheer on their teammates.

“I can’t begin to express how proud I am of those girls who keep showing up every single day to support their teammates in any way they can, despite being injured,” Eppenbach said.

The four who were injured stood just to the side and cheered on their teammates yet again as they tried to punch their ticket to state.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough.

Seniors Brinley Reese, Raegen Johnston, Emily Muñoz and Kinlee East can say they are four-time state qualifiers.

“I cannot express how pumped I am that they are getting the chance to go back and compete at state another year,” Eppenbach said. “My senior girls won state their freshman year and have had high hopes of going back to try and do it again.

“The road up to this point has not been an easy one and their hard work does not go unnoticed. After four months of drilling this routine, I know they want all their early mornings and long practices to pay off. So stay tuned for Saturday.”

That’s when the team will compete one more time at Southern Nazarene University’s Sawyer Center in Bethany.

KHS is set to perform at 10:10 a.m. and will be one of 15 Class 4A teams vying for the title.

Eppenbach was asked for a realistic expectation for her group going into the final competition of the year.

“This answer might be different for every cheer coach,” she said. “But I feel like, across the board, the answer you will hear is that we want our athletes to hit a clean routine and have fun.

“We have many talented schools in our classification, but as long as they can go out and give it their best, I will always be proud of them.”