A few University of Kansas cheerleaders were hanging on for dear life as they got a taste of what it's like to take on one of the most challenging stages in America, and this time it wasn't on the cheer mat. They put their athletic ability to the test as they tested out the new American Ninja Warrior course in Kansas City. 

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Audie Monroe is a Kansas native from Lawrence, Kansas. He's a 5th year senior who's been cheering with the Jayhawks since 2013! Monroe is majoring in Business Marketing and has been a part of UCA staff for 2 years now. 

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Monroe was familiar with the show before attempting the 10 difficult challenges that made up the course for the first time. For him, putting it all together was the most difficult part. 

You look at some of the stuff on TV and wonder why they can't do it. Some elements are not that hard, but some are a lot harder than they look. A lot like cheerleading! It may look easy but that's not necessarily true. I definitely ate it on a few things!

For two days, the American Ninja Warrior crew tested the course for two types of contestants. Monroe enjoyed most of the upper body obstacles and found that those were easiest for him. For the girls, their cheerleader instincts kicked in and to no surprise they had no problem with balancing!

"The guys were not making it very far on the obstacle with the pipe rolls, which required a lot of balance. But the girls struggled on a lot of the upper body parts of the course."



Kyra Skinner is a senior on the KU cheer team and is a nursing major from Princeton, Texas. She also took a shot at a few of the challenges. The course was nothing like she expected it to be just by watching the show on TV. 

"It was definitely a lot harder than it looks. One thing I didn't realize are the rules they have on each obstacle. There are certain grips you have to have and you aren't allowed to touch certain areas. That made it more challenging."



Monroe had never experience anything like an American Ninja Warrior course before, but his Ninja stability and strength within cheerleading helped get him through it! 

"I used to do track, cross country and wrestling but it was the cheer skills that really helped me out. I was able to control my body throughout the course."

After their fun, yet challenging experience with American Ninja Warrior, Monroe and Skinner were asked if becoming a contestant on the show was a possibility. For Monroe, he decided to stick to cheerleading.

"It was a lot of fun but I don't think I could put the time into something like that. A lot of people train about 5 days a week and I would pretty much have to replace cheerleading with that training."

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Skinner's favorite part about the course was the hard work and attempt by everyone. Although you are facing the challenges of the course by yourself, the encouragement from her teammates never stopped!

Seeing everyone attempt the course and work hard was the best part. It was interesting to see how some things that were easy for some people were harder for others. But the most challenging for me was the initial just going for it before doing an obstacle.

Kyra Skinner stunting at a KU basketball game.

When her cheerleading days are over, Skinner says she might give training for the show a chance. 

"I feel like in the future whenever I am done with cheer it could be a possibility. It's something that could help keep me in shape."


Kyra Skinner and Audi Monroe stunting at the American Ninja Warrior course.

Do you think YOU have what it takes to compete on the big stage?!