his season, also had a strong season at Alabama.McFadden, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound cornerback, had 17 tackles and eight interceptio

It was only a matter of time before American Ninja Warrior tapped into college rivalries, which is exactly what the franchise did with the spin-off Team Ninja Warrior: College Madness. ?The series, which premieres on Tuesday on the Esquire Network, will run for five episodes and be a team-based obstacle course competition featuring undergraduate and graduate students racing head-to-head.Whereas American Ninja Warrior is strictly individuals, Team Ninja Warrior pits teams of three (two men, one woman) against each other in a race of speed and agility. There are upper-body tests on the course, but the Team Ninja Warrior courses are about who can finish the fastest, rather than if an athlete can finish at all. This makes for a completely different environment for athletes and viewers alike.College Madness is a new twist on a previously successful formula for Esquire, which spawned Team Ninja Warrior last year. As Ninja Warrior becomes more popular, it wouldnt be a stretch for college students to be familiar with it, but that certainly wasnt the case for all of the women competing on the forthcoming show.It wasnt on my radar, contestant Melissa Hill said in a recent phone interview. Hill, 22, who is originally from Sorrento, Florida, is a University of Florida graduate student and competitive climber. Hill joined Floridas team at the behest of her teammates and fellow climbers, Dane Brooks and Garrison Kalvin.My first thought was ... No way would we ever get on this show, Hill said with a laugh. She applied with Brooks and Kalvin, and the rest is history.Ninja Warrior, however, was most definitely on the radar of Emma Beserra, 19, a power lifter and TCU student. My whole family watches it, she said over the phone.Originally from The Woodlands, Texas, Beserra was a competitive cheerleader throughout high school, and in college she started to lift and do other forms of fitness. Shes been on TV before as well, having run the BattleFrog College Championship, which aired on ESPNU and ESPN2. At TCU, Beserra works at the rec center, and unlike Hill she did not know her teammates well prior to the show.We didnt meet them until we got to school, and we had to fly out [to Los Angeles] the next week, Beserra noted.Though not thought of as a traditional background sport for ninjas, cheer has strong representation in this first episode of College Madness. University of Georgia student Victoria Case,19, is a former cheerleader for the Bulldogs, as is fellow UGA competitor Doug Legg. She also played softball and rode horses when she was younger. The fashion merchandising major and Georgia native also noted that she is a die-hard [Bulldogs] sports fan.Hill, who is studying ecology, started climbing just after matriculating at the University of Florida. She grew up playing golf but doesnt consider herself a traditional sports fan. Im sports indifferent, she said. After realizing that she didnt want to play golf in college, Hill had a hole in her life that she ended up filling with climbing.Fun was something I had been missing in golf, because I was burnt out on it, Hill said.As with climbing, pole vaulting has a reputation within the ninja community for spawning successful competitors, especially women. ANW superstar Jessie Graff pole vaulted at Georgia Tech and the University of Nebraska. Fellow ninja Meagan Martin was a pole vaulter at Vanderbilt. Cassie Craig, who is an up-and-coming female ninja, was also a pole vaulter.?Haley Houston,19, a sophomore at the University of Houston, hopes to join that legacy. The Austin, Texas, native is studying kinesiology and wants to be a physical therapist. She started pole vaulting in middle school, which is relatively rare, as not many middle schools have pole vaulting programs, and she still vaults at Houston. Coincidentally, she also participated in cheerleading.Houston watched American Ninja Warrior previously but did not have plans to try to get on one of the shows.It was an accident, she said in a phone interview.Houston was inadvertently recruited by her teammate and ninja enthusiast Zach Tamayo while working at the campus recreation center. He told Houston about how he needed a woman to compete on his team, and she volunteered. It was as simple as that. Houston was familiar with the kinds of obstacles on the show and figured she could do well.Obstacles, however, can be harder than they appear. This is really, really hard, Houston added.And that they are. The show promises to bring the same level of intensity to the competition as ANW, with a dash of that old college try!Team Ninja Warrior: College Madness premieres on Esquire Network on Tuesday at 8 p.m. ETAir Max 270 Wholesale . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Air Max 270 Cheap Online . Hamelin, who triumphed in the 500 on Saturday, edged out Victor An of Russia by 0.021 seconds to maintain his lead in the World Cup standings. Russias Vladimir Grigorev was third. In the relay, Canada took control six laps from the finish line to beat Russia and the Netherlands. http://www.cheapairmax270nz.com/ . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. Wholesale Air Max 270 NZ . -- Its been a long road back for Sean Bergenheim. Cheap Air Max 270 NZ . Hazard cut in from the left and scored with a swerving right-footed shot for ninth goal of the season, which proved to be enough for the victory despite Chelseas forwards again lacking a cutting edge up front.CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Team success is breeding individual success for members of the Alabama Crimson Tide.Alabama senior defensive lineman Jonathan Allen won the Bronko Nagurski Trophy -- an award given annually to the nations best college defensive player -- on Monday night.Allen was selected over four other finalists, including Crimson Tide teammate Reuben Foster, a linebacker. Florida State cornerback Tarvarus McFadden, Michigan linebacker Jabrill Peppers and Clemson defensive end Christian Wilkins also were among the finalists who attended the awards ceremony hosted by the Charlotte Touchdown Club.Alabama (13-0) is ranked No. 1 in the country in large part due to its dominant defense.The 6-foot-3, 291-pound Allen has 56 tackles and nine sacks this season for the Crimson Tide, tied for third most in the Southeastern Conference. He had four tackles and 1 1/2 sacks this past weekend as Alabama defeated Florida 54-16 to win its third straight SEC title.Allen is perhaps best known for his flying hit on Texas A&Ms Trevor Knight earlier this season in which he leaped over running back Trayveon Williams, who tried to chip him, and took down the Aggies quarterback. The highlight-reel tackle earned him a spot on the national stage.Later in that same game linebacker Ryan Anderson ripped a ball loose and Allen picked it up, threw off a would-be tackler and rambled 30 yards for a touchdown.Allen was projected as a likely first-round draft pick last year but decided to return to Alabama because he wanted to win a national championship.Allen beat out some solid comppetition for the award, including Peppers, who has 66 tackles -- 13 for a loss -- and one interception for the Wolverines this season.dddddddddddd Peppers learned Monday that he was the only defensive player selected as a finalist for the Heisman Trophy.Foster, who had 94 tackles, four sacks and a forced fumble this season, also had a strong season at Alabama.McFadden, a 6-foot-2, 198-pound cornerback, had 17 tackles and eight interceptions for the Seminoles.And Wilkins had 44 tackles and 3 1/2 sacks for the playoff-bound Tigers, who held on to beat Virginia Tech 42-35 in the ACC championship.The 2016 Bronko Nagurski Trophy finalists represent the very best college football has to offer, said John Rocco, executive director of the Charlotte Touchdown Club. Each of these young men has distinguished himself as a player and as a leader.Allen joins an elite list of former Nagurski Trophy recipients that includes defensive linemen Aaron Donald, Warren Sapp and Ndamukong Suh; linebackers Luke Kuechly, Derrick Johnson and Terrell Suggs; and defensive backs Champ Bailey, Charles Woodson and Roy Williams.The Charlotte Touchdown Club also announced that Andrew King, a cadet at the United States Military Academy at West Point, was recipient of its inaugural Defender of the Nation Award. The new award honors the nations military academies and their top student-athletes.The keynote address was given by Duke football coach David Cutcliffe. ' ' '