Danbury Teen Makes a Giant Leap With Debut On ‘American Ninja Warrior’

Last year, we told you about Danbury teen Devan Alexander who was competing on American Ninja Warrior Junior. Now, Devan has made the leap to prime time. As a 16-year-old Danbury High School student, he's now competing on the popular TV competition show American Ninja Warrior.

Get our free mobile app

Devan was a contestant last year on American Ninja Warrior Junior, and impressed the producers so much, that they invited him to compete with the big boys on the primary show, America Ninja Warrior.

This is like being called up to the big leagues from the minors, but now the competition gets tougher and the stakes are much higher. There's also a top prize of $1,000,000 awarded to the winner of the 13th season of American Ninja Warrior if they can conquer all four stages at the National Finals in Las Vegas.

Devan certainly seems ready to rise to the occasion and is holding his own against some very tough competition. When the show made its season premiere this past Monday (August 23) on NBC, he competed in the semifinals and made the leader board.

Here's what was said on americanninjawarrirornation.com about Devans performance in the semi finals.

Devan had his mom, Pow, on the sidelines to avidly cheer him along. Right out of the gate, Devan set a strong pace with strong moves, making his way to the back half of the course. There, he faced the return of Crazy Clocks. Aside from a short struggle on the final clock, Devan had it handled. However, once he started in on The Dungeon, it was apparent that his tank was almost empty. He made a noble effort to plan a path through the obstacle, but his run ended there. Although we were pretty sure that would get him to Vegas.

Devan is a big chess player, but obviously has a more adventurous side, being a "ninja warrior," and he's showing off his skills on the show. He's actually been getting himself ready for the show for awhile and has even joined the ninja gym, Ninja Mania in Danbury. When he can't get to the gym, he does his workouts at home on a mini ninja course he has set up in his garage.

Best of luck, Devan and we'll all be watching and rooting for you.

Here's a look at the current leader board after the semifinal round:

Top 15

1. Jake Murray: 3:34.39
2. Austin Gray: 3:50.92
3. Cam Baumgartner: 4:12.43
4. Kyle Soderman: 4:28.25
5. Kai Beckstrand: 4:56.17 (teen)
6. Hunter Guerard: 5:06.99
7. Nate Hansen: 5:13.20
8. Tyler Yamauchi: 5:17.36
9. Matt Bradley: 5:18.15
10. Eric Middleton: 5:27.40
11. Mike Silenzi: 6:15.99
12. Jesse Labreck: 6:44.85
13. Devan Alexander: The Dungeon - 3:10.40 (teen)
14. Donovan Metoyer: Diving Boards - 3:27.65
15. Jamie Rahn: Diving Boards - 3:46.43

Check out his workout in this video -- think you can handle any of this without pulling a muscle or something?