KANE — Kane Area High School cheerleaders came home with multiple awards after traveling to the Niagara Falls Freeze Cheer and Dance Frenzy at Niagara Wheatfield High School in Sanborn, N.Y., over the weekend.

Coach Chris Niklaus said the team won two sub-caption awards for having the highest scores in those categories, taking home Outstanding Jumps and Outstanding Cheer Choreography. The squad also captured first place in the Varsity Non-Tumble Division as well a first place in the Large Varsity Division.

Meanwhile, Niklaus said the team won its first grand champion of the season by having the highest overall score among all teams in all divisions at the event, of which there were 52 teams in attendance. Those divisions included all scholastic, all-star and collegiate teams. The grand champion also receives a full-paid bid to the Lake Erie Nationals in April.

“This was a great event for our team and the team grew a lot this past week,” said Niklaus. “We were not able to practice one full day over the last week due to some injuries, illness and basketball playoffs. This goes to show the determination the team has when they take the floor … zero practice and still come out on top.

“We always compete against our last performance to compare how we make progress through the season,” added Niklaus. “Although we were not happy with what we put on the floor on Sunday, as we know it wasn’t our best, we still put two very good routines out there and were rewarded for those efforts by the judges. We had several goals going into this event: One was to do better than our last time out and the other was to win our divisions as well as beat the four college team’s scores at the event. We accomplished the last two of those goals and are still working on that elusive perfect routine in competition.”

Niklaus said the team has two weeks of practice before its next event on March 12 in Geneva, Ohio, and then on to Cheer LTD Nationals on March 15.