American Ninja Warrior recap: Night two of Qualifiers

We just saw night two of the American Ninja Warrior Qualifiers and the teens are not slowing down. But that doesn’t mean the veterans didn’t show up to win. Once again, the number one spot on the leaderboard went to a young athlete. But positions two and three went to veteran competitors.

The night was marked by the ferocity of the new competitors, the determination of the experienced returning Ninjas, and the difficulty of the course. For the second week in a row, there were less than 10 finishers. That’s low for a Qualifier. The season is setting up the expectation that the Ninjas will need to work harder than ever before to stay in the running for the $1 million prize.

Let’s break down the action!

The course:

• Shrinking Steps
• Weight For It
• Split-Decision

1. Broken Bridge
2. Burn Rubber

• Tipping Point
• V Formation
• Warped Wall
• Mega Wall

Jump right to the leaderboard by clicking here.

See the results of all the competitors here.

Jon Bundy: Jon’s wife, Stacey, has Multiple Sclerosis. With Lance Pekus cheering him on, Jon celebrated surviving the Shrinking Steps. He took the Broken Bridge against Lance’s advice, but his instincts were accurate. His run ended on Tipping Point.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Zhanique Lovett: Zhanique returned to the course with a basket of her vegan energy bars for Matt and Akbar. Whatever is in those bars is working for Zhanique. After getting revenge on Burn Rubber, she ended her strong run on the fifth obstacle.
Result: Out on V Formation

Derek Miyamoto: After fighting for survival on the Broken Bridge for about two minutes, he finally hit the water.
Result: Out on Broken Bridge

Chris Crary: His custom shoes didn’t help his footing on Burn Rubber.
Result: Out on Burn Rubber

Julius Ferguson: Before season 11, Julius was living under a bridge in Connecticut. When fellow Ninja Dan Champagne got wind of his friend’s situation, he immediately took him in and has since helped him renovate a van for Julius to call home. Dan was on Julius’ sideline as the Ninja got off to a strong start and passed Burn Rubber. After a confident climb through Tipping Point, Julius took a breath before V Formation. He looked like a clear was in his future until his foot bumped a handle on the descent. This caused the handle to sway and he slipped off the final move.
Result: Out on V Formation

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

John Kodachi: The 55-year-old lawyer was out on Weight For It.

Stevi Hall: The Navy vet crossed the Broken Bridge and fell on Tipping Point.

Vincent Pane: The clothes-making engineer and chemistry student was out on V Formation.

Dan Champagne: Now it was Julius’ turn to cheer Dan on. Dan was a rookie but he was not inexperienced. After a nice, level transition on Tipping Point, he was the first to hang on to the final transition of V Formation. Dan missed his first attempt at the Warped Wall but then was the first of the night to clear the course.
Result: Complete

Ruben Arellano: The gymnastics coach was out on V Formation.

Emmanuel Wells Jr.: The track and field hurdler couldn’t hurdle past Weight For It.

Rachel Luba: Rachel is a sports agent who recently negotiated the highest MLB salary ever for her client, LA Dodger Trevor Bauer. She’s also a former gymnast which usually translates well to the course. Unfortunately, Rachel didn’t make it past the Shrinking Steps.
Result: Out on Shrinking Steps

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

David Payne: David earned a silver medal for hurdles during the 2008 Olympics. Fellow Olympian Allyson Felix watched from the sidelines as David peeled off the last bar of Weight For It.
Result: Out on Weight For It

Sarah Chang: Sarah “flossed” on the startline to reflect that she’s a future dentist. At just 4’10’”, she became the shortest Ninja ever to complete an obstacle. Celebrating every win, she charged across the Broken Bridge. Her run came to an end on Tipping Point.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Brittney Durant: She was out on Tipping Point

Jose Gomez: With bowties for all, his run ended on V Formation.

Josiah Pippel: The first teen of the night was ready to make an impression! The 15-year-old loves lizards and credits Ninja with helping him open up. And he was right at home on the course. He was perfect on Burn Rubber. He was perfect on Tipping Point. There was no hint of exhaustion as he moved through V Formation. He even gave the Mega Wall a try. Josiah missed, but he still completed the course. Wow, these kids.
Result: Complete

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

True Becker: The 17-year-old will head to Tufts University in the Fall. He was out on V Formation.

Olivia Colasuonno: Also 17, Olivia started her own animal rescue. She put up a tough fight on Broken Bridge, but couldn’t save the run.
Result: Out on Broken Bridge

Rylie Johnston: Rylie was introduced to Ninja Warrior back in season seven when her dad made his debut on the course. Cody watched his daughter proudly as she took on the course. She lived up to her nickname of “trip hazard” when she stumbled before the Broken Bridge, but she was nimble on the obstacle. She was out on Tipping Point.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Lance Pekus: This marked Lance’s 10th season on the show. Burn Rubber took him out in season 12, so he avoided the issue with Broken Bridge. Moving along well after that, Lance closed the run with a sudden slip on V Formation.
Result: Out on V Formation

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

Cody Johnston: Rylie’s dad made it one obstacle farther than her with a run to V Formation.

David Truong: David fell on Weight For It.

Milton Nkunku: Milton frustratingly fell on the Shrinking Steps for the second time.

Kaden Lebsack: Jake Murray called the 15-year-old the best Ninja in the world, which is pretty high praise. Kaden looked a little nervous on the starting line as Jake reminded him to breathe. But those nerves did not show up on the course. Kaden went through the course like a hot knife through butter. On pace to have a top time for sure, Kaden opted to go right for the Warped Wall to smack another buzzer for the younger Ninjas.
Result: Complete

Rachel Garlin: The singer-songwriter went out on Weight For It.

Anthony Porter: The archery teacher completed the course and with a great time.
Result: Complete

Tiana Webberley: Tiana hit her first buzzer in season 12. She is beloved in the Ninja Warrior community and Olympic figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi was on her virtual sideline. We really wanted a second buzzer for T, but after a struggle on Tipping Point, she couldn’t make it to the landing platform.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

Brian Montagnese: Brian dedicated his run to his parent’s strength. His father passed away from brain cancer and his mom is currently facing Parkinson’s. Brian found firm footing on Burn Rubber but things got slippery on Tipping Point, ending the run there.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Sophia Lavallee: At just 16-years-old, Sophia saved her run on Broken Bridge and made the Semifinals with her run to Tipping Point.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Keita Kashiwagi: Keita’s first run on Ninja Warrior was back in Venice during season six. Since then, he was hit by a car while riding his bike. The resulting brain damage caused problems such as trouble with his vision. That made it so impressive that he cleared two obstacles, falling on the Broken Bridge.
Result: Out on Broken Bridge

Xavier Dantzler: This 16-year-old athlete lives in NYC but travels over two hours each way to train with Joe Moravsky in Connecticut. He’s one of the few teen athletes who was not on ANW Junior but don’t count Xavier out. With Joe shouting out tips from the sideline, he made his way through the course well. Xavier tried to skip a handle on V Formation and it was his downfall. But then his mentor got to deliver the news that he was through to the Semifinals.
Result: Out on V Formation

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

Victor Chan: The Amazon engineer had an early fall on the course two years ago. He remedied that with a buzzer this time around.
Result: Complete

Alex Weber: The former host of “Crashing the Course” dedicated his run to his mom, who is facing cancer. He fell on Tipping Point.
Result: Out on Tipping Point

Sandy Zimmerman: It’s fair to say Sandy has a pretty great relationship with the Tacoma Dome. When she was 12, she won the National Judo Championship there. In season 11, Sandy became the first mom to hit a buzzer under the Dome. Sandy’s family coached her through her season 13 run, even picking Broken Bridge for her. Tipping Point put Sandy into the Semifinals. Sandy eyed skipping a handle on V Formation and the big move put her in the water.
Result: Out on V Formation

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

Kevin Brekke: When Kevin designed Crank It Up, he became the first winner of the Obstacle Design Challenge. Now he’s also a Ninja! He made it to the Broken Bridge and it was so cool to see this full-circle moment.
Result: Out on Broken Bridge

Lucas Reale: With his new fiancé looking on, Lucas snagged another buzzer and top time.
Result: Complete

Joe Moravsky: Last, but never least, Joe returned to prove the veterans were still in the game. He’s made it to the National Finals every year he’s competed and been the Last Ninja Standing twice. This time, he wanted the Mega Wall again. Joe flew through Weight For It, sprinted across Burn Rubber, and had the fastest time to the fourth obstacle. With zero wasted movements, he completed V Formation. Joe gave a quick glance at the Mega Wall and absolutely nailed it. With another $10,000 in his pocket, he told Matt and Akbar this is going to be his year.
Result: Complete with Mega Wall

Elizabeth Morris/NBC

As seen on Akbar’s Gbajabia-moments

• Emmanuel McConnell: Out on the Shrinking Steps
• Melissa Jackson: Out on Weight For It
• Zach Palazzo: Out on Tipping Point

You can find the leaderboard and advancing competitors here.

Here, you can review the complete results from the night.