Jay Lewis is a college student from Connecticut. His nickname is Jay Lache since his light weight allows him to fly through the air with ease. He's also the boyfriend of Maggie Owen.
American Ninja Warrior Junior 1[]
Before Jay competed on American Ninja Warrior, he competed on the first season of American Ninja Warrior Junior. His qualifying runs were shown in Episode 12. In the seeding round, he lost to Cabot Sayles, entering the knockout round in the losing seed. However, he defeated Sophia Beaulieu in the knockout round to advance to the final showdown. There, in a rematch against Cabot Sayles, he won, sending him to the semifinals.
In the semifinals, he faced Jonathan Godbout. However, Jonathan outraced him to the buzzer, and Jay's season was over.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Due to the lowered age limit, Jay was selected to be one of the handful of teenagers to take on the course, making his first appearance on Episode 4 of Qualifying. He breezed through the obstacles, and despite him not clearing the Mega Wall, he completed the course, placing 7th overall.
During the second episode of semifinals, Jay's full run was shown in the middle of the broadcast. He finished the course and earned the fastest time of the night, placing higher than his mentor, Joe Moravsky, who placed 2nd. The Power Tower was an exciting run in its own right, featuring a student vs. master showdown. Even though Jay held a valiant run, he quickly fell behind Joe, who used his legs on the climbing bars, while Jay only used his feet. As a result, Jay lost to his mentor, and did not win the Safety Pass.
Jay's Stage One run in Vegas was digested, but he failed the dismount on the Double Dipper; he dismounted just a tad bit early, hitting the edge of the landing mat and falling backwards, putting an end to his rookie season.
American Ninja Warrior 14[]
Jay returned for his second season in the second qualifying episode. This time around, his run was digested, to the chagrin of many viewers. It was shown that Jay flew through the first five obstacles and once again attempted and failed the Mega Wall, but cleared the course, placing 7th overall.
Jay later competed in the first episode of semifinals. Just like last year, he cleared the course with the fastest time, earning him another trip to the Power Tower. This matchup was easily the most exciting of the season, as he faced another strong teen, Josiah Pippel. Jay was behind Josiah for most of the race, but was able to match Josiah at the Dropping Shelves; Josiah attempted the shelves facing forward, while Jay faced the shelves by swinging to the side. Jay was more efficient and beat Josiah to the buzzer by less than a second. He advanced to his second straight national finals, with the Safety Pass this time around.
In the national finals, Jay got revenge on the third obstacle of Stage One, which was the Giant Rollercoaster. He went on to clear the brutal Jumping Spider and the tricky Tetherball, and even completed the stage with 30.15 seconds left. He also finished Stage Two in his first ever attempt with 35.92 seconds left and moved on to Stage Three. It's worth noting that he was the only Safety Pass winner who did not need to use it that season. On Stage Three, he had little trouble and he became the first of a record five competitors to have cleared the stage. On Stage Four, he was the fourth competitor to run. He started off strong, but he unfortunately timed out around the 70 feet mark, ending his great second season. Since his time reaching the buzzer was just barely bested by Kaden Lebsack, he ended up as the runner-up for the season.
American Ninja Warrior 15[]
Jay returned to compete in American Ninja Warrior 15 in the first qualifying episode. He had little troubles, completing the qualifying course for his third straight year and placing 3rd. He later competed in the second semifinals episode. His race with Alex Goodwin was surprisingly digested, but Jay defeated Alex who fell on Hopscotch, while Jay finished the course. He placed 3rd overall and once again qualified for the national finals.
Unfortunately, Jay broke his ankle on a practice attempt at Three Ring Circus, forcing him to withdraw from the national finals. He was replaced by Evan Bomengen, who was the best ninja that failed to qualify.
American Ninja Warrior 16[]
As American Ninja Warrior 16 was taped back to back with American Ninja Warrior 15 on the same year and happened before the national finals of American Ninja Warrior 15, Jay was shown to have competed that season before his injury.
In qualifying, he was briefly shown getting up the Warped Wall and finishing in under 1:20; then attempting the Mega Wall, but failing. Jay raced against Jamie Rahn in the Semifinals. He was shown to be leading throughout the entire race, clearing the course with the fastest time and earning him a spot in the Safety Pass race. Racing against Gavin Obey, he ultimately beat Gavin to earn the Safety Pass.
Because of Season 15/16 being filmed back to back, he couldn’t compete in Vegas this year. This time he was replaced by James Sannella.
Jay is set to compete in American Ninja Warrior 17.
Trivia[]
- Prior to competing on any ninja competition, he is known outside of American Ninja Warrior as the current National Ninja League World Champion in the Elite division, claiming the title at the 2021 World Championships.
- Jay is the third ninja to make it to Stage 3 without using his Safety Pass, the first two being Michael Torres and Austin Gray.
- Jay is one of twelve Americans to finish Third Stage in any SASUKE format.
- Jay is the second competitor (after Vance Walker) to win the Safety Pass twice.
- Jay is the first Safety Pass winner to withdraw from the national finals.
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | Failed Double Dipper (Stage One) | Digest. | |
| 14 | Failed Rope Climb (Stage Four) | Time Out. |
Ninja Warrior Germany Results
(Supporting Formats)[]
Ninja Warrior Germany: 4 Nations Special[]
| Season | Stage | Round | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Second Stage | 1 | Clear (01:53.27) | Earned 3 points for Team USA. |
| Third Stage | 3 | Clear (02:23.31) | On the Up for Grabs, his impact on the transition to the first stationary bar caused the first moveable bar to fall off, so he had to make a far laché from the first stationary bar to the second stationary bar. Earned 3 points for Team USA. | |
| Final Stage | - | Clear (00:48.XX) | Won the competition for Team USA after he cleared the Salmon Ladder, which his opponent Sladjan Djulabic failed before. |