NBC
Several athletes who hail from the Chicago area will compete on Monday’s episode of the NBC series “American Ninja Warrior.”
They manage, coach or train at locally based Ultimate Ninjas gyms. Among the competitors appearing Monday: 15-year-old Maggie Owen of Aurora and Naperville gym manager Jesse Labreck, who came in second in the first ever American Ninja Warrior Women’s Championship. She was the first rookie woman ever to qualify for the ANW Vegas National Finals.
Other Ultimate Ninjas athletes competing on episodes this season include:
Cameron Baumgartner (of the Naperville location).
Mike Silenzi (Libertyville)
Michael Torres (Glenview)
How a Naperville gym manager stays motived for American Ninja Warrior North Aurora resident Jesse Labreck, who manages a gym in Naperville, is competing in her sixth season of NBC s American Ninja Warrior. Her qualifying round airs Monday. Courtesy of Elizabeth Morris/NBC American Ninja Warrior contestant Jesse Labreck demonstrates an obstacle during a children s class at the Ultimate Ninjas gym she operates in Naperville. Daily Herald file photo, 2017 American Ninja Warrior contestant Jesse Labreck moved from the East Coast to the Chicago suburbs in 2017 to operate the Ultimate Ninjas gym in Naperville. She is now appearing on her sixth season of the NBC TV show, with her qualifying round airing Monday.
Scaled-back festivities were easier on parents, but kids felt robbed
Written By:
Lauren Zumbach / Chicago Tribune | 8:00 am, Mar. 8, 2021 ×
Eight-year-old Frederick Jozwiak plays basketball with friends during his birthday party at Ultimate Ninjas on Feb. 19, 2021, in Glenview. John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune/TNS
Last year, Parker Boyes invited his entire class to the movies for his ninth birthday.
His 10th birthday party earlier this month was decidedly more intimate: a virtual hangout, then indoor go-kart racing with two close friends.
He fared better than his older sister, Ellie, who was “heartbroken” when a long-planned 11th birthday sleepover turned into a drive-by party last April amid tighter pandemic restrictions, said their father Adam Boyes, 43, of Glencoe, Illinois.
With some kids approaching their second pandemic birthdays, Chicago-area families are easing their way out of quarantine and into in-person celebrations.