KANE — The 17th annual Mid-Winter Cheer Classic was held over the weekend at Kane Area High School and saw 41 teams from around the region competing in several different divisions. Kane coach Chris Niklaus said Saturday was scholastic competition day with school teams competing on the floor. The top teams were Moniteau Junior High, Brockway and Oil City in their respective divisions with Moniteau winning the coveted Judges Choice Award and Otto-Eldred winning the Spirit Award.
Sunday saw all-star team action with teams from as far away as Dunkirk, N.Y., and Clearfield. Niklaus said Cheer Starz All Stars were crowd favorites with their entertaining routines and special skills they brought to the event and they also had the oldest athletes at the event with several being in their late 20’s and early 30’s. Their enthusiasm earned them the Spirit Award for the all-star portion of the event. Extreme Glam from Warren won the Judges Choice Award for the all-star divisions.
“The event had two days of excellent high-level competition with the Senior All Star Level 3 division having the closest placings separated by half a point,” said Niklaus. “It was two fun days of clean competition with everyone showing the utmost respect for each routine that was put on the floor. Our own Kane team did end up with the highest score in their judged exhibition, but did not compete at this home event.”
Niklaus said the Kane squad ran its non-tumble and tumble routines on both days of the event and nailed the bookends. “Our first and last routines were the best with our last routine on Sunday being the best we have put on the floor all year. It was great to see our athletes succeed at home and show the community just how amazing they have become this year.”
Niklaus said the next couple of weeks don’t get any easier with the level of competition steadily increasing as the team progresses to Cheer LTD Nationals in March. This coming weekend the squad will be in Clarion on Sunday at Clarion University for the Red Hot Cheer and Dance Competition.
