The Kane High School cheerleading team travelled Sunday to Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio, and came home with two first-place finishes at the Champion Cheer Central Over the Rainbow Challenge.

Kane finished first in both the non-tumble and large varsity categories.

“This was exactly what we needed to get prepared for this coming weekend,” said coach Chris Niklaus. “The team met adversity with a potential injury on the warm-up mat. Facing going on the floor without a team member, the team was prepared to do what needed tobe done. However, at the last minute it was determined the injury was more shock than an injury and the full team took the floor.”

The team recovered from the mishap to put in a good performance, Niklaus said.

“It is times like this when athletes find what they are made of and for the first time all season long, we hit two zero deduction routines in a row,” she said. “This is a huge confidence builder for everyone on the team.

“One minute things were looking down and out and the next minute they were all working beyond what they thought they could and it was awesome to see the looks on their faces when they found exactly what they could do when faced with adversity. I fully believe our team matured beyond what they thought they may have been capable of in that short period of time.”

The team has prepared to show their skills at the next competition.

The team performed both championship routines at a send-off Wednesday night in the Kane Area Middle School gym before leaving for Cheer LTD Nationals in Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Kane will be the smallest school at the event.

“The teams in our divisions are nearly double our school size with a couple triple our school size,” said Niklaus. “We have talked as a team about goals and we are shooting for a top 3 finish at the event in Small Varsity Non-Tumble and Small Varsity. The team has the potential to reach those goals as long as we can keep our heads on and remain focused.”