American Ninja Warrior Junior Season 3 2021, Episode 3 – Qualifying #3

Season 3 of American Ninja Warrior Jr. continues with the next set of ninjas!!!

Let’s review this season’s format:

-Just like last season, 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 quarterfinals.

And in a twist this week, the 11–12-Year-old Division runs first.

Ninja Mentors: Jesse “Flex” Labreck and Najee Richardson

11–12-Year-old Division

The course: Hopscotch, Lunatic Ledges, Spike Crossing, Broken Bridge, Spring Forward, 13-foot Warped Wall (one hand hold)

Seeding Round: Caroline Kieffer vs Jake Scionti

Caroline (“the Crazy Ninja”) uses ninja to help her cope with ADHD, while Jake (“the six-pack ninja”) showed off some of the exercise he does to get his six pack.

Jake grabs the lead early.

Jake extended the lead on Spike Crossing.

And Jake kept the lead all the way up the Warped Wall where he hit the buzzer first.

Seeding Round: Joey Ray vs Reeder Smith

Joey is the Kangaroo Ninja because he jumps hurdles, while Reeder was last season’s runner-up.

Joey ran out quickly, putting a lot of pressure on Reeder.

Reeder tried to catch up on Spike Crossing, but Reeder almost missed the platform.

And in an upset, Joey finished well ahead of last season’s runner-up to claim the win.

Reeder also appeared to suffer an injury to his left hand.

Knockout Round: Jake Scionti vs Reeder Smith

Reeder was unable to compete because of the injury to his left hand.

So, Jake advances to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Joey Ray vs Caroline Kieffer

Joey was adopted with three of his siblings from foster care.

Much like the first race, Joey set a fast pace.

Caroline fought to keep up.

But Joey’s speed was too much as he hit the buzzer and advanced to the Final Showdown.

Caroline did hit her second buzzer.

9–10-Year-Old Division

The course: Hopscotch, Lunatic Ledges, Liquid Pipe, Broken Bridge, Flying Saucers, 13 Foot Warped Wall (with two hand holds)

Seeding Round: Kasey Gaspard vs Isabel Johnson

Kasey eats a plant-based diet, while Isabel eats a bug-based diet (ewww!!!).

Isabel won the race after both ninjas fell on the course.

Seeding Round: Levi Meeks vs Grace Schneider

Grace and Levi have been training partners the last two years.

Grace came off the Lunatic Ledges with the lead.

But “Levi Legend” made record time on Liquid Pipe.

And Levi would keep the lead all the way up the Warped Wall.

Knockout Round: Levi Meeks vs Kasey Gaspard

“Levi Legend” put forth another dominating performance on his way to the Final Showdown.

Knockout Round: Isabel Johnson vs Grace Schneider

“The Flying G” got off to a great start.

And Grace’s pace only picked up as she set her sights on the Final Showdown.

But Grace slipped and fell on Flying Saucers.

Unfortunately, Isabel had the same problem Grace had on the final dish of Flying Saucer.

13–14-year-old Division

The course: Hopscotch, Lunatic Ledges, Sideways, Broken Bridge, Spinball Wizard, 13-foot Warped Wall (no hand holds)

Seeding Round: Phil Folsom vs Evan White

Phil trains with his brother in a barn, while Evan’s friend Molly Steffl helped him pull through the loss of his dad two years ago.

Both guys swung quickly through the first two obstacles.

But it was on Sideways that Phil pulled away.

Both ninjas hit the buzzer, but Phil got there first.

Seeding Round: Emily Gardiner vs Emme Smith

Emily is the tiny but mighty ant ninja, while Emme designed all the obstacles in her gym with her dad.

The two ninjas were close through two obstacles.

Emme had a big lead until a stumble on Broken Bridge allowed Emily (despite stumble of her own) to catch up.

Emily made up even more ground on Spinball Wizard, but she fell on the last one.

Emme was able to hold on and hit the buzzer.

Knockout Round: Phil Folsom vs Emily Gardiner

Phil overcame some stumbles on platforms to advance to the Final Showdown.

Emily did hit her first buzzer.

Knockout Round: Emme Smith vs Evan White

Unfortunately for Evan, he fell on the very first obstacle after taking a leap a little too big on Hopscotch.

11–12-year-old Final Showdown: Jake Scionti vs Joey Ray

Jake raced out to a slight lead early.

Trying to keep up, Joey slipped on Broken Bridge.

That allowed Joey to ease up the Warped Wall onto the Quarterfinals with the fastest time in the age group so far this season.

Jake Scionti advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

9–10-year-old Final Showdown: Levi Meeks vs Grace Schneider

Grace took the lead going into Lunatic Ledges.

But Levi has been great on Liquid Pipes all day, and he was great there again in this race.

Then, Levi shockingly fell on Flying Saucers.

And once Grace completed obstacle five, she clinched her spot in the Quarterfinals.

Grace Schneider advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

13–14-year-old Final Showdown: Phil Folsom vs Emme Smith

Phil has run fast all day.

And he was out fast again with this race.

In fact, Phil would lead from start to finish in a solid 30 seconds as he moved onto the Quarterfinals.

Phil Folsom advances to the Quarterfinals!!!

Your Quarterfinalists:

11–12-year-old division: Jake Scionti

9–10-year-old division: Grace Schneider

13–14-year-old division: Phil Folsom