Liberty graduate student advances to ‘American Ninja Warrior’ finals, airing Monday night

Liberty University graduate student Josiah Singleton (’19, B.S. in Youth Ministries), who advanced to the American Ninja Warrior National Finals for the first time in his three seasons in the obstacle challenge competition, will be featured in the first of four finals episodes in Season 14, filmed May 14-17 in Las Vegas and set to air Monday at 8 p.m. EST on NBC.

Singleton, who reached the City Finals by completing the qualifying run in his rookie season in Atlanta in 2019, is one of the 69 finalists this season. The overall winner is awarded $100,000, with a chance to win $1 million if he or she can complete all four obstacles along the course (only two contestants have done this).

Singleton, from Brookneal, Va., is pursuing his M.Div. in Biblical Studies while serving as student discipleship director at Hyland Heights Baptist Church in nearby Rustburg, Va. He is known as “Country Boy Ninja” on the show. He overcame all six obstacles to make it through the first round of qualifiers, filmed from March 20-24 inside the Alamodome in San Antonio, and advanced to the semi-finals, filmed from April 8-11 in Los Angeles. There, Singleton successfully navigated through the first eight of 10 obstacles to reach the National Finals, eventually falling on the Dragonback feature before utilizing a safety pass to compete the course on a second attempt in 3 minutes, 36.35 seconds, the 27th fastest time out of the finalists.

He was one of three Liberty graduates to compete in San Antonio, joining second-time participant Dr. Chad Thornhill, a professor in the John W. Rawlings School of Divinity, and former Flames skier Jeffrey Loftus (’22), who was making his debut.