Essay Contest Winners 2015
Allison H. Grade 5
“Yes! History has been made!” This is what the announcer yelled when Kacy Catanzaro made American Ninja Warrior (ANW) history by becoming the first woman to complete a qualifying course in 2014. Her historic achievement has inspired other competitors and her fans. This is why she’s my hero.
Before Kacy was an ANW competitor, she was a college gymnast at Towson University in Maryland. She has been doing gymnastics since she was five years old. Kacy was named the division one gymnast of the year in 2012. She did not compete on ANW for two years after graduating college to prepare. Her training partner who is also her boyfriend is the legendary ANW athlete Brent Steffensen. Kacy works for the obstacle course gym Alpha Warrior in San Antonio, Texas. Kacy’s an amazing athlete who proves hard work pays off.
Kacy Catanzaro made history on ANW season six. First she was the first women to complete a qualifying course. In Dallas Texas, Kacy conquered the warped wall. The warped wall is a 14 feet curved wall the competitors must run up, grab the top, and pull themselves up to complete. Kacy is only five feet tall so the wall is almost three times her size. She was still able to get to the top. Then she made more history six weeks later by completing the finals course. To do that she had to complete all the obstacles from the qualifying course, and four more even harder obstacles. With Kacy being so short, she had a big disadvantage. The first new obstacle was the salmon ladder. She had to do six jumping pull ups in a row to complete it. Without a break, next was the swinging frames. To complete it she had to swing across a big frame, and then jump to another one, finally she swung onto the landing pad. Next was the pole grasper. She had to maneuver across vertical poles to finish. Kacy had to make one big leap to another pole in the middle. Finally was the spider climb. Competitors had to wedge themselves between two walls four feet wide. Then they had to climb up 30 feet to reach the buzzer. Kacy hitting the buzzer was one of the most inspiring sights I’ve ever seen.
Kacy Catanzaro was the first women to qualify for the national finals of ANW in Las Vegas, Nevada. She did that by completing the Dallas finals course. The national finals is made up of four stages called Mount Midoriyama. Kacy fell on stage one on the jumping spider. She had to jump up and wedge herself between to walls. This past season Kacy fell on the cargo crossing in the qualifiers. She got a wild card to Vegas, but fell early. Kacy is still my hero, even if she’s fallen.
Kacy is an amazing athlete who is definitely my hero. She has proven that girls can do whatever they want, even if the odds are against them.
Joseph F. Grade 6.
My hero is my sister. Why you ask? Because she helps me in my rough times. She is there with me when I might be alone and helps me with my homework. She protects me from people who might hurt me or my feelings. She understands my “era”. When I act a certain way that is part of that era, she understands me. She feels or has felt what I am going through. She’s the best sister anyone could possibly have in the world!
She is super fun. We do room sleepovers and watch movies while eating too much popcorn, chips and izze’s. we both like each other and learn from each other. That is never going to change.
I look up to my sister. She is great and sticks to the good path of life. She doesn’t take drugs or alcohol. She doesn’t treat people like the are below her. She treats elders with respect.
Now sometimes she can be mean but it is still worth the wait to be with her. She is a very loving person and she’s cool with whatever option or road I take. She tell me the truth or sometimes keep it from me if she feels I’m too young to know or not ready for it.
Lele, my sister, is very talented in a variety of ways: filming, editing, photography, clothing styling, and did lacrosse when she was younger and healthier. She had 6 surgeries since birth. That is much more than I could handle. She is the strongest and bravest girl I know.
She cares about people. She cares about me. She is the coolest, greatest and bottom line she’s an awesome friend and sister.
Thanks for listening to me about my hero – lele fa’aleava.
