Lexi Vasquez will be competing in the 11-12 age group, according to Jennifer Halla, who owns the Austin Ninjas gym at 200 Buttercup Creek Blvd., Ste. 107A, in Cedar Park where Vasquez primarily trained until it temporarily closed due to coronavirus concerns.
Vasquez, who is trained by Nick Fordney, competed in a timed, one-on-one event over a traditional “Ninja” obstacle course where the winner advances to the next round. The show was taped in Los Angeles, Halla said.
Vasquez, whose gym nickname is "Beastmode," was 11 when the episode was filmed last summer and cannot divulge the outcome of the show that will air on the Universal Kids Network and multiple streaming services. In February, she placed third in her age group at the Austin Ninja League Worlds, an international competition featuring nearly 2,000 athletes, in Greensboro, North Carolina, Halla said.
“She always works very hard and is a gifted athlete,” Halla said.
She lives in Leander with her father James, mother Mickie and sister Ryann, 10. She attends Chaparral Star Academy, a charter school in Austin that emphasizes intense extracurricular activities, according to Halla.
More than 140 boys and girls are competing in the current season of “American Ninja Warrior Junior,” according to a news release. The season will feature obstacles known to fans of “American Ninja Warrior,” which depicts adult competitors, such as the shrinking and floating steps, the little dipper, spider walls, double tilt ladders, crazy cliffhanger, the block run, flying squirrel, wingnuts and skyhooks.
