The Colorado Ninja community came out swinging!
On September 7 and 8, the World Ninja League Premier Series continued its global tour with a stop at Ark Ninja! Led by Nate Hansen and Austin Gray, this dynamic duo created two amazing courses for the Colorado Ninjas to crush, and what we saw on the course was nothing short of perfection. Read on to find out how the event played out!
Across all 12 divisions, there were 7 athletes who won both the Placement and Challenge Course. The dominance began with Claire Mattern (Kids Female) and Elyse Luby (Mature Kids Female), who both cleared the Placement Course and made it very far into the Challenge Course. Mattern made it to the final obstacle of the Challenge Course, and was the only to do so in her division!
Continuing with the momentum, Eli Lynch (Mature Kids Male) and Caleb Rhines (Preteen Male) also swept their divisions, with both athletes locking in buzzers on both courses. Rhines had a dominant 35-second run on the Placement Course, while Lynch blazed through the Challenge Course in just 2 minutes and 5 seconds, comfortably securing these athletes the fastest times on their respective courses.
Meanwhile, Lauren Stanko (Amateur Female) swept her division with a buzzer on the Placement Course and a run to the penultimate Challenge Course obstacle. The Amateur Female leaderboard was filled with Premier Series finalists, including Jaelynn Bennett, Grace Kurland, and Suzanne Himka. Additionally, Anabella Heinrichs took the top spot on both courses in the Elite Female field over heavyweight competitors such as Katie Bone and Jaleesa Himka.
Finally, Kaden Lebsack (Elite Male) brought his talents to the Premier Series and hit buzzers on both courses, sweeping the competition. He was joined on the podium by his training partner Max Feinberg (2nd overall, Challenge Course clear) and Seth Lambert (3rd overall). Taking the final Elite Male Finalist spot is Hollis Lansford, the reigning British Ninja Champion.
Of course, as the Premier Series is a competition for only the top 25% of athletes, the leaderboards reflect that anyone can win. In the Kids Male division, Cyrus Said and Vale Brewer went back and forth on the leaderboard. Brewer won the Placement Course, while Said was runner-up just 3 seconds behind Brewer. Then, on the Challenge Course, Said hit the buzzer and took 1st, while Brewer ended up in 2nd as the division’s fastest non-finisher. This pattern repeated itself within the Teen Male division, as Challenge Course winner Kaden Forsha beat out Placement Course winner Dominic Jackson, swapping 1st and 2nd on each course. Meanwhile, Porter Fagnant took the Placement Course win over Helena Smith in the Teen Female division, but the two then switched placements on the Challenge Course, granting Smith the win.
Anastyn Dirnberger (Preteen Female) took the fastest time on the Placement Course, but then dropped to 2nd on the Challenge Course. Claiming the win for the Preteen Females was Ellie Neyerlin, who initially placed 3rd on the Placement Course. Possibly the craziest of all was the Amateur Male division, where Kyle Sanders and Ethan Alevrides, who were the bottom 2 of the Placement Course, ended up in the top spots of the Challenge Course. Sanders took home the win with a run to the final obstacle, just 16 seconds ahead of Alevrides.
Ark Ninja showed us that anything can happen in the wild sport of Ninja. We’ll see how unpredictable and entertaining the Premier Series continues to be on September 21 and 22 at Life Force Ninja! You can view the Premier Series schedule on the WNL website and watch all divisions compete on the WNL YouTube!
The premier obstacle league.