American Ninja Warrior JR Kids Season 1 2018 Episode 5

Last three week, three ladies (and only ladies) advanced to the semifinals? Will we have a repeat this week?

Here’s a breakdown of the format:

-Ninjas will compete in three divisions: 9-10 years old, 11-12 years old, and 13-14 years old. They will compete in head to head races.

The qualifying rounds feature four ninjas per division. They will start in a seeding round, with the two fastest ninjas from that round taking on the two slowest ninjas in the knockout round.

The winners of the two knockout rounds move on to the final showdown, where the winner will move on to the semifinals.

-The winner of each division at the end of the season receives a $15,000 prize.

Also, Laurie Hernandez will be joining Matt and Akbar as co-host this season.

9-10 Year Old Division (Ninja Mentor: Barclay Stockett)

The course: Sonic Swing, Tic Toc, I-Beam, Floating Tiles, Spin Cycle, 13 Foot Warped Wall (with two hand holds)

Seeding Round: Payton Myler vs Alyssa Cerula

Speaking of only ladies, here’s an all lady seeding round matchup to kick things off.

And Payton is a part of an all-ninja family with two of Payton’s brothers competing in future episodes.

The pair was even after the first two obstacles.

Alyssa got caught up on the bar at the end of I-Beam, allowing Payton to grow a big lead.

Payton finished the fifth obstacle and made her way up the Warped Wall, completing the victory.

Seeding Round: Cameron Gerson vs Luke Sarion

Cameron is a walking encyclopedia, with lots of random facts in his brain.

Luke had a slight lead through two obstacles.

That lead only grew as Luke finished I-Beam.

Luke took his time and looked toward his father (a former ninja himself), but that allowed Cameron to pass Luke on Swing Cycle.

And in a race up the Warped Wall, Cameron hit the buzzer first. The “Worm Ninja” celebrated with the dance he’s nicknamed for.

Before the break…

Knockout Round: Cameron Gerson vs Alyssa Cerula

Alyssa defeated Cameron to advance to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Payton Myler vs Luke Sarion

Luke is another ninja who has a sibling racing in this competition later.

Luke got off to a small lead early.

That lead grew as Luke worked quickly through the I-Beam.

 The Spin Cycle is where Luke lost his lead last time, and the same happened here.

Luke finished the fifth obstacle first, but he stumbled on the landing.

Payton landed on her feet and went straight up the Warped Wall, hitting the buzzer and advancing to the Final Showdown.

11-12 Year old Division (Ninja Mentor: Najee Richardson)

The course: Sonic Swing, Tic Toc, Ring Toss, Floating Tiles, Fly Wheels, 13 foot Warped Wall (one hand hold)

Seeding Round: Karina Choi vs Sammy Bainbridge

Karina’s dad is Jimmy Choi, a ninja who’s fighting Parkinson’s disease who competed in Season 10.

Sammy is the “Ninja Farmer” who trains on a ninja course his brothers built for him on the farm he helps his family with.

Sammy raced out to a big lead, but he missed the transition on Tic Toc.

Karina took her lead into Fly Wheel, but Sammy made up a lot of ground.

It was a photo finish as both ninjas made it up the Warped Wall at the same time.

After looking at time, Sammy was declared the winner by just .008 seconds.

During the break…

Seeding Round: Damiyah Smith vs Carter Lam

Carter hit the buzzer after Damiyah fell on the Ring Toss.

Knockout Round: Carter Lam vs Karina Choi

It’s the battle against the youngest (Carter) and the shortest (Karina) ninjas in this age group.

Carter set a quick pace.

Trying to keep up, Karina couldn’t hold the net and fell on Tic Toc.

Carter hit the buzzer and advanced to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Sammy Bainbridge vs Damiyah Smith

It’s the “Ninja Farmer” vs the “Powerhouse Princess.”

And Damiyah gets her nickname from being an award winning power lifter.

Once again, Sammy raced out to an early lead.

But Sammy got stuck on Ring Toss, going so far as to lose a ring.

Damiyah completed the obstacle this time, ensuring her spot in the Final Showdown.

Damiyah made it all the way to Fly Wheel before falling, but she is one victory from the semifinals.

13-14 year old Division (Ninja Mentor: Kevin Bull)

The course: Archer Steps, Tic Toc, Floating Tiles, Devil Steps, Flying Shelf Grab, 13 foot Warped Wall (no hand holds)

Seeding Round: Maggie Owen vs Emilie Thibodeau

Maggie, who trains with Jessie “Flex” LeBreck, raced out to a nice lead early.

Her lead only increased on Devil Steps.

Emily hung around through Flying Shelf Grab, but Maggie did not relent.

Maggie hit the buzzer first and took the victory.

Seeding Round: Jonah Brown vs Nate Pardo

Nate is a baseball player and likes helping his grandmother around the house.

Nate raced out to the early lead, but Jonah was not far behind.

Nate made it a regular part of the course to skip steps on his way to recording the competition’s fastest time so far.

Knockout Round: Nate Pardo vs Emilie Thibodeau

Nate defeated Emilie to advance to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Maggie Owen vs Jonah Brown

Jonah is a farm ninja from Murfreesboro, TN.

And Jonah’s brother Caleb is also competing later in this competition.

Jonah raced out to the early lead.

He kept that slight lead all the way to Flying Shelf Grab.

It was on the fifth obstacle that Jonah built his final margin of victory, hitting the buzzer and advancing to a Final Showdown rematch.

9-10 year old Final Showdown: Alyssa Cerula vs Payton Myler

A rematch from the seeding round starts off the Final Showdowns.

Alyssa took the lead early.

Alyssa got her foot wet and took time to dry it off.

That delay allowed Payton to take the lead.

And Payton did let up as she climbed up the wall and hit the buzzer advancing to the semifinals.

11-12 year old Final Showdown: Carter Lam vs Damiyah Smith

Carter raced out to a big lead early.

A one handed dismount on Ring Toss only increased that lead.

Carter led from start to finish, hitting the buzzer and advancing to the semifinals.

13-14 year old Final Showdown: Jonah Brown vs Nate Pardo

This rematch mirrored the first race, with both competitors setting a blazing pace.

And both competitors hit the buzzer in less than 30 seconds (27 to be exact).

And also like the first race, Nate hit the buzzer just ahead of Jonah to advance to the semifinals.

(And on a side note, a really tough break for Jonah getting paired in the same bracket as Nate, an obvious contender to win the whole thing. Most any other week, Jonah would be moving on to the semifinals.

Your Semifinalists:

9-10 year old division: Payton Myler

11-12 year old division: Carter Lam

13-14 year old division: Nate Pardo