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The COVID-19 pandemic has shaken up most (if not all) aspects of our lives. American Ninja Warrior was not immune from the effects and producers had to get a little creative with the format in order to get the whole season filmed.
One of the changes was that two women were guaranteed to make it to the Finals. The top 12 Ninjas from each episode advance to the finals and the top two women advance. If there weren’t two women in the top 12, the women who went the farthest the fastest would advance.
After the second night of Semi-Finals, the four women heading to the Finals are: Jesse Labreck, Sandy Zimmerman, Jessie Graff, and Jeri D’Aurelio.
Jesse Labreck
Jesse competed in night one of the Semi-Finals, going out on The Dungeon in 4:25.54. The obstacle took out seven competitors that night and Jesse’s time wasn’t that far off of 12th place’s Jamie Rahn, who also fell on The Dungeon and had a time of 4:03.01.
Sandy Zimmerman
Sandy also competed on night one, failing on the Corkscrew with a time of 4:55.26. The P.E. teacher and mother of three just missed advancing to Stage One in Las Vegas last season. Embracing the spirit of Ninja, Sandy recently said “I don’t know how other Ninjas feel, but for me, I love being on the show and it is such a thrill, but for me, it’s kind of like the cherry on top of the sundae, there are so many good things that have come from Ninja outside of the show with the community that we have in Spokane. People I’ve met along the way and the life lessons and so many good things that come from it.”
Jessie Graff
Jessie qualified for Finals from her Semi-Finals run on night two, coming in 12th place in the standings after failing on Corkscrew with a time of 3:54.09. This is Jessie’s seventh year on ANW and she’s been setting records since season five.
Jeri D’Aurelio
The fourth woman competing in Finals is Jeri D’Aurelio, who fell on Slingshot with a time of 2:21.05. This is Jeri’s sixth time competing, and she made it to City Finals last season. The rock climber doesn’t let anything slow her down and we can’t wait to see how she does in Finals!
You can find the full list of Season 12 Finals competitors here and don’t miss night one on Wednesday, October 28!