Riverside, CA- In it's third year as the largest STUNT tournament in California, including high school and college divisions, the Joust is the place to be seen. The Royals have competed in this elimination tournament each year finishing 3^rd in 2022 and 2023. The Universities playing are all top D1 schools except for the lone NAIA Royals. California Baptist, Cal Poly Slo, Arizona State and University of Kentucky round out the brackets.

In the first game,  the Royals faced off against the Sun Devils of ASU. This is the 4^th time playing each other with the all-time record being 2-1 with the Royals ahead. Each previous game has been a tight one. HIU's first ever program win came against the Sundevils back in 2022 at the Joust with a score of 11-9. This year the Royals held control of the entire game and ended with a 20-5 score. The highlight of the game was playing JT7 for the first time in program history. Power players for the game were Jasmine Rincon, Kamea Binnquist, Nicole Contreras, Angelina Castanon, Ivy Martinez and Jamie Goldman.

The next game was the beginning of the elimination bracket and had the Royals up against the mustangs of Cal Poly. Cal Poly is the reigning D1 Club champions and the Royals had fallen to the mustangs in their previous 3 games. Going into the 2^nd quarter tied 2-2 pushed the Royals to take control throughout the rest of the game going into halftime with a 6-3 lead. Then going into the 4^th quarter with an 8-5 lead and finishing strong with an 18-9 final. The highlight of the game was scoring against the strong tumbling team of the mustangs on JT 5 and tying JT1. The power players for the Slo game were Angelina Castanon, Sophia Rosendale, Kamea Binnquist, Ivy Martinez and Jamie Goldman.

Beating Cal Poly brought the Royals to face off against the Wildcats of the University of Kentucky. The Royals were victorious over the wildcats last year at the Joust in a very close game, but the wildcats are in the midst of a groundbreaking season and easily dominated the majority of their opponents. The Royals took an early lead at the end of first quarter with a 3-1 score. The Wildcats began to catch up going into halftime with a 5-4 score and ended the 3^rd quarter tied 7-7. The fourth quarter brought back and forth leads between the 2 teams and ended the game with a 14-14 tie forcing overtime, but the Royals came out ahead 17-16 in this historic game.  With the victory over Kentucky, the Royals moved into the championship game vs CBU. The power players against Kentucky were Sophia Rosendale, Ivy Martinez, Mackenzie Flowers, Kamea Binnquist and Jamie Goldman.

The final championship game led the Royals to match up against the undefeated Lancers of CBU. The Royals scored the most points that they have ever scored against the lancers and the final game ended 24-3.  Tying CBU on PS8 was a highlight of the game. The power players for CBU were Nicole Contreras, Sophia Rosendale, Macenzie Flowers, Kaitlyn Kelly, Jasmine Rincon, Meela Ly and Angelina Castanon. 

At the end of the event Nicole Contreras was recognized as a first team all tournament athlete. One athlete was chosen from each of the championship teams for First team, honorees were from California Baptist University and Hope International University.  Nicole, a junior and a member of the leadership team is a 3-year veteran. She is dominant in all quarters and represents HIU STUNT as a tumbler, main base and mid- flyer. 
Next up for the Royals is the GSAC championships and then onto Nationals.  The Royals overall record is now 19-4.