Over the summer, Rice students participated in some extraordinary activities. One noticeable senior, Elizabeth Carney, known as “Liza”, competed in the World Ninja League in the young adult division. This multi-staged competition requires fierce training and dedication and tests individuals on their speed, agility, mental and physical strength. Liza impressively placed third in the All Balance young adult female division.
Knight’s Banner staff writer Kenzie Ribera sat down with the champion to discuss her success and experience being a competitive ninja.
How did you get started in being a ninja warrior?
Honestly, I’ve always been doing it, even before I was aware of it. From the age of five or six, I could do all the monkey bars that were on the playground. Then, when I was about 10, I watched an episode of American Ninja Warrior, and my mom found a gym near our house, and I started.
What does your training look like weekly, and how do you balance that with school?
Two hours a day at the gym either at my ninja gym or at my climbing gym, which I go to for cross-training. It’s normally later in the evening, so I have a pretty brief time to do my homework…To be honest I have to be really good about time management to balance that with school.
What was your experience like qualifying for the World Ninja Warrior?
World Championships was really cool. I have gone twice now, and [they were] genuinely one of the best experiences in my life because you are just surrounded by ninjas. It’s a pretty niche sport, so it was really cool to be surrounded by that and go with other members of my team that had qualified and watch each other on the course. [The course] is a lot of a bigger scale. There are bright lights, the course is very uniform, and all of the obstacles are stuff that nobody has seen before. It’s a really unique experience.
I heard that you are on the staff and help teach younger students. What is that experience like sharing your passion?
It’s definitely really exciting, and I would say that the kids that end up in ninja can sometimes be a little bit crazy [laughs]. I will say it is definitely very fulfilling to see the kids get excited about ninja and to see the kids accomplish obstacles they never thought they could when they first looked through the door.
What is your favorite memory or story in your time of competing?
I would say it was this past year, the moment [after I ran stage one] that I realized I qualified for stage two…that was something that I never thought I would be able to do because only 60% of people for the next stage…I didn’t complete stage one, so I was kind of upset about that but then I realized I qualified for stage two. I was really happy because I had a few years of being towards the bottom of the podium because of performance anxiety.
What do you hope your future will look like with ninja warrior, and how are you planning on incorporating it as you graduate?
I’m really going to try my best to continue ninja in college. Obviously, there aren’t gyms everywhere, but one of my top choice colleges does have a ninja gym about 25 minutes away, so I [hope] to go there at least once every couple of weeks. This is a sport I love, and it’s not something I’m ready to let go of.
