Kacie Teruya likes to be active. The 13-year-old Moanalua Middle School eighth-grader started playing soccer when she was 5 and got into gymnastics when she was 6 years old. These days she enjoys track, takes weekly conditioning classes, and is a member of her school’s cross-country team.
Wrestling season is about to start, and for the first time she’ll be limited to wrestling other girls; last year she also wrestled — and beat — boys. If that isn’t enough, she’s also done 30 pushups in 20 seconds in a timed competition.
Hawaii will see Teruya take her love of challenging athletic activities to a national level when she debuts on the premiere season of “American Ninja Warrior Junior” on Universal Kids Opens in a new tab October 13 at 4 p.m. (repeats at 6 p.m.). Viewers will see boys and girls from across the country competing on the well-known obstacles of the popular “American Ninja Warrior” show.
Teruya is one of 64 kids in the 13- to 14-year-old age group. She is the only contestant from Hawaii.
JOHN BERGER: How did you find out about the “American Ninja Warrior Junior” auditions?
KACIE TERUYA: I saw a poster at the gym. It was advertising a “best kids obstacle course.” The gym used to do mini ninja things so my mom and I thought it was a Hawaii thing, and it sounded like fun. It wasn’t until we got a call from the producer that we knew what it was.
JB: What is the most important thing in training for the show?
KT: To push yourself as hard as you can and then do a little more. It takes a lot of upper-body strength.
JB: Who are the people who’ve inspired you to get where you are?
KT: Grant McCartney and Kacy Catanzaro. She was the first female adult to finish the “American Ninja Warrior” course. Grant McCartney represented Hawaii on the show.
JB: If I could put you in touch with anybody in the world, who would it be?
KT: Grant McCartney, because he’s the only adult ninja to represent Hawaii. I’d like to train with him, get a (ninja training) gym opened and get other Hawaii kids involved. Most of the kids on mainland train in (ninja) gyms but we don’t have one here.
JB: What’s your next big project?
KT: Running the (Honolulu) Marathon in December. I ran a half-marathon in 2 hours, 12 minutes, but running the marathon — I just want to finish. I’ve started a club at school to train for it.
JB: What do you like to do other than sports and training?
KT: I like to go to the beach, and surf, and go hiking — and hang out with my friends and go to the mall.
JB: What would you like to be doing 10 years from now?
KT: I want to have a degree in marine biology. But certain (adult) ninjas who have been on the show for a certain amount of seasons — that becomes their full-time job, and I might want to do that.
JB: One more question: How did guys handle it when you beat them in a wrestling match?
KT: Most of them could handle it, but sometimes they’d get mad — or sad. One cried.
