Lincoln Park dance student competes on “American Ninja Warrior Junior”

A Lincoln Park freshman is set to compete on national television Saturday, March 2 as a contestant on “American Ninja Warrior Junior.”

Abby Richert, 14, of Bethel Park, a dance major, will take part in the next-generation competition, which puts young contestants through a timed course of physically demanding obstacles, such as a warped wall and hanging rings.

The episode airs at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, on the Universal Kids Network.

Abby said she “was shocked” to learn she was picked for the show, which is currently in its first season and recently was green-lit for a second season.

“I don’t really have as much ninja experience as other people do, but they saw something in me obviously to pick me, so I was happy they gave me a chance.”

She flew to Los Angeles to film the episode over the summer after being chosen from a pool of about 50,000 applicants. Only 192 youngsters ages 9 to 14 were chosen in three separate age brackets to compete.

The show assigned a ninja mentor on the set to help with the obstacles. She also had a chance to meet show co-hosts, Matt Iseman and Akbar Gbajabiamila, as well as be interviewed after the race by gold-medal-winning Olympic gymnast Laurie Hernandez.

“It was really fun. We were out there for about four to five days just filming. They also came here to Pittsburgh for a hometown visit. That was in August. They came here for a day and they basically followed me around and filmed me.”

Abby said she did many videos before being chosen by the show. Her mother, Lisa Richert, found out about the show through an open casting call and told her about it. She made a video and sent her information.

“They made us do several interviews. We did Skype interviews and then they made us film little segments to everything.”

To prepare for the show, Abby said she took a few private lessons with a trainer at Movement Lab, a gym in Ohio.

“He made me practice a lot of obstacles he thought would be on the show because he had experience before testing adult obstacles. He was never on the show, but he was a tester.”

As a dancer, she said she knows how to control her body, which helped. But Abby is not just a dancer. She is also a contortionist, aerialist, hand balancer, foot archer and unicyclist. She drew her strength from her aerial arts, which she mainly does. She trains religiously at the Iron City Circus Arts studio in Pittsburgh.

“I’m always training there on the apparatuses and everything. That definitely helped me with strength.”

She dreams of working for Cirque Du Soleil someday. Her parents, Lisa and Todd Richert, are supportive.

“Abby is a good kid. She really is,” Lisa Richert said. “She has a 4.0 average. We’re really happy for her. She works really hard and is doing well in school, and that’s what important.”