The Australian Ninjas showed everything they were made of.
The fourth stop in this year’s World Ninja League Premier Series was in none other than Melbourne, Australia! Clem Vertigan, owner of The Compound, created two courses to challenge the best Ninjas from down under, leading to some very exciting moments and surprising falls. Read on below to check out the action from August 31 and September 1!
With such a competitive field of talented athletes, there were just 4 athletes who managed to lock in the win on both the Placement and Challenge Courses. The first 2 were Hugo Tebbutt (Kids Male) and Lucy Carr (Preteen Female). Carr secured a buzzer on the Placement Course and made it to the penultimate obstacle on the Challenge Course, while Tebbutt was one of the few to clear both courses.
The other two athletes who swept the competition were Riley Hume (Elite Male) and Zoe Harkness (Elite Female). Both athletes put up lightning-fast runs on the Placement Course and pushed their way to the final obstacle on the Challenge Course faster than their fellow competitors in an event with some crazy obstacles.
The Placement Course determine the run order for the Challenge Course, meaning anyone could jump to the top of the leaderboard at the end of the Challenge Course. However, a pattern began to emerge at the Compound: many athletes who placed 2nd on the Placement Course ended up taking home the win on the Challenge Course.
It began in the Kids Female Division with Isabel Burgoyne. Burgoyne advanced to the penultimate obstacle on the Placement Course a hair behind Pippa Miller, then proceeded to advance to the Challenge Course’s penultimate obstacle faster than any other athlete in her division. The same occurred to Mature Kids Female Winner Hunter Hollingsworth, who locked in a Placement Course buzzer for 2nd place, then was granted the win on the Challenge Course based on her speed to the second-to-last obstacle.
The trend continued in the Preteen Male Division, as Nico Zandona and Jayden Jolley went back and forth on the leaderboard. Both athletes cleared both the Placement and Challenge Courses. Jolley was faster on the Placement Course, putting Zandona in 2nd. But when the Challenge Course came around, it was Jolley who placed 2nd, as Zandona sprinted to the buzzer in a faster time, securing him the overall win.
This leaderboard switcharound repeated itself when Amateur Male competitor Darren Baker placed 2nd on the Placement Course to Alexander Cox, only to bump Cox down to 2nd on the Challenge Course hours later. Teen Male Winner Liam Smit also went from 2nd on Placement to 1st on Challenge with a speedy run to the 5th obstacle, the Bear Traps, locking him in as the division’s winner.
The remaining winners at The Compound faced an uphill battle, as they landed a little lower on the Placement Course and therefore had to run the Challenge Course earlier than others. Nevertheless, they managed to clutch up when it mattered, taking the top spot on the Challenge Course.
Mature Kids Male competitor Hunter Cutajar placed 13th on the Placement Course, forcing him to run the Challenge Course 3rd. Despite the early run, Cutajar pushed his way to the final obstacle and was the only athlete in his division to do so, locking his win in.
Amateur Female competitor Stevi Sewell placed 3rd on the Placement Course out of 6, landing her in the middle of the pack on the Challenge Course. With great determination and speed, Sewell was the fastest to obstacle 6, dubbing her a Premier Series Winner at the end of the day.
The Premier Series will return to the United States for a competition at Ark Ninja on September 7 and 8! You can view the Premier Series schedule on the WNL website and watch all divisions compete on the WNL YouTube!
The premier obstacle league.