You might have seen him doing flips off trees, running up sloped walls or jumping over obstacles across campus, but soon, you can see him on NBC’s television show, “American Ninja Warrior”.
Junior and interactive media major Drew Marinelli was one of more than 120 people to compete in the “Ninja Warrior” qualifying round in St. Louis earlier this week. Among his competitors were X-Games gold medalist Kevin Robinson and former Olympic gymnast Terin Humphrey.
“Ninja Warrior”, a competition featuring Parkour and free-running activities, tests the strength and endurance of its participants. These activities involve finding the most efficient way from point A to point B through running, climbing, swinging, vaulting, jumping and rolling across various obstacles.
Marinelli said his passion for roller blading, skiing and snowboarding led him to expand his skills to include Parkour five years ago.
“I was about 16 when I saw the show ‘Jump City Seattle’, and it just blew me away,” Marinelli said. “It was these guys doing all this stuff you see in the Matrix – no wires, no special effects.”
After seeing the television show, Marinelli said he felt drawn to apply for “American Ninja Warrior”.
“I thought it was the coolest thing ever and I figured, hey, I run around and practice all this stuff. Maybe I can do this,” he said.
The regional qualifiers involved a base course that included quadsteps, quinsteps and a warped wall. The top 30 competitors that made it furthest on the course in the quickest time advanced to the next night of qualifiers.
Those 30 participants competed on another course, and judges chose 15 to advance to the national competition in Las Vegas, which will be held in June.
Marinelli received support from many of his friends and family members for his “Ninja Warrior” adventure and Parkour activities.
“My fraternity brothers were a huge help because my freshman year, when I broke my ankle, the fraternity was one of the only places I could turn at that point because family lived so far away,” he said of his Sigma Phi Epsilon brothers.
The injury was one that caused a period of discouragement for Marinelli, he said.
But pretty soon, Marinelli was back at it, practicing Parkour on campus and at a local gym as part of a group called Peoria Parkour. As far as his thoughts when flipping through midair, Marinelli said it can sometimes be intimidating.
“There’s a bit of apprehension sometimes,” he said. “Nowadays, I want to say it’s a very calculated approach. I don’t really attempt tricks especially outside without having done significant practice in a safe environment.”
Marinelli, who is under contract to not disclose any results of the qualifiers, can be seen on the May 26 episode of “Ninja Warrior”.
“If anyone’s ever interested in learning about [Parkour], I’m always happy to teach people because it makes me better at what I do, and it encourages other people besides myself to get into a healthy lifestyle like this,” he said.
