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Apex Movement NorCal National Ninja League Qualifier: Recap and results

American Ninja Warrior veterans ran with rookies and we were blown away by the athletes we haven’t met yet.

By Nikki Lee

Right now National Ninja League competitions are happening all over the country. These are Ninja Warrior style competitions hosted by local Ninja gyms. The top three men and women from each qualifying competition will move on to the finals in March.

Last season, the NNL championships went to Jesse Labreck and Geoff Britten.

Jesse went on to have a historic first season on American Ninja Warrior, becoming the first female to qualify for the National Finals in her rookie season. Geoff, of course, gained his American Ninja Warrior fame by becoming the first person ever to complete all four stages of the National Finals.

This means that local competitions, like those organized by the NNL, can be predictive of the American Ninja Warrior season to come. With this in mind, we headed to Apex Movement NorCal to watch their National Ninja League Qualifier and see how these events play out.

You can watch the reading of the rules below. This is important as it creates a fair playing field for all the Ninjas. It’s interesting to note the discussion and debate that goes into making sure everyone is on the same page.

Apex NorCal National Ninja League Qualifier: Rules

Posted by American Ninja Warrior Nation on Monday, November 21, 2016

There was a live stream of the event, which was totally worth tuning into. American Ninja Warrior Brian Kretsch organized the event and provided commentary on the live stream.

We grabbed some of the highlights from the live stream to share with you here.

Results:

Men’s division:

  1. Sean Bryan
  2. Sean Darling-Hammond
  3. Seth Rogers

Women’s division:

  1. Anna Shumaker
  2. Sandy Zimmerman
  3. Jeri D’Aurelio

In the end, it was awesome to see what so many American Ninja Warriors are up to in the off season from the show. We were also blown away by the talent that hasn’t made a name for themselves on the show just yet, like Anna Shoemaker.

After an amazing run, she’s heading to the National Ninja League finals. We’re totally hooked on watching her progress. She has all the strength and focus of an American Ninja Warrior and we’ll be keeping an eye out for her!

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