RENNSELAER, N.Y. — A community cheers on their hometown cheerleaders as the Rensselaer Varsity team returned with a new national championship title and they got the welcome of a lifetime.

The team was escorted to City Hall Sunday by police after taking first place at the National Pop Warner Cheerleading Championship held at the ESPN Center in Orlando, Florida last week.

Coaches and athletes were presented with certificates of achievement-and a banner dedicated to the team will be displayed in Rensselaer. 

"And then this year, we are crying with joy and we were so happy that we finally had this whole accomplishment that we achieved as a team and it felt so good, you know, growing up with these girls, we have kind of become like a family," said cheerleader Reagan Teatry.

The Rensselaer Varsity Cheerleaders are 1 of only 4 teams from New York that won a first place trophy.

The team competes at the "World's Competition" in January.