Sara Heesen is a bartender from Plymouth, Minnesota who competed on two seasons of American Ninja Warrior.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
She first competed in Kansas City in American Ninja Warrior 9. Her run was digested in qualifying, but it was shown that she failed the fourth obstacle, Crank It Up. She did get into the women’s top 5 by placing 4th.
In the city finals, she had an opportunity to knock her friend and training partner Sarah Schoback out of the womens' top 2. She made it past the first three obstacles, but she once again failed Crank It Up. However, her time there was just enough to knock Schoback out of the leaderboard, beating her time to the obstacle by less than a second. As such, she moved on to the national finals by placing 2nd in the womens' top 2.
Her run on Stage One was digested, but it was shown that she failed the Propeller Bar. She was one of only two women to fail the Propeller Bar that season.
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
She returned in American Ninja Warrior 10 in Minneapolis. Her qualifying run was once again digested, but it showed that although she was one of many athletes to fail the Ring Jump. Her time the obstacle was enough to make the women's top 5 and advance to the city finals again, as she placed 5th on the leaderboard.
In the finals, although the Ring Jump was not in play in that round, she managed to finish the third obstacle, the Sky Hooks. However, she gassed out two obstacles later on the second cylinder of the Battering Ram. Unfortunately, since two women did get past that obstacle, it was not good enough to earn a return trip to the Las Vegas national finals, missing the Women’s Top 2 by one spot.
She has not competed since. She did apply for American Ninja Warrior 11, American Ninja Warrior 12, and American Ninja Warrior 13, but was not selected. She did, however, try to walk on in Cincinnati for American Ninja Warrior 11, but was unsuccessful and became a tester for that season instead, and was also hired by The ATS Team to be a tester for American Ninja Warrior 13.
Team Ninja Record[]
| Season | Episode | Round | Heat | Opponent Team | Opponent | Result | Notes | Individual Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Wisco Warriors | ||||||||
| 3 | 9 (Qualifying) | First Matchup | 2 | Superhero Squad | Win | 1-0 | ||
| 3 | 9 (Qualifying) | Final Matchup | 2 | Tri Hards | Loss | Sara injured her sternum after the taping of qualifying round. Christine Ahn served as her alternate for the rest of the season. | 1-1 | |
Relay Showdown Record[]
| Season | Episode | Competitor (Obstacle Attempted) | Opponent Team | Opponent (Obstacle Attempted) | Result | Notes | Relay Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team: Wisco Warriors | |||||||
| 3 | 9 (Qualifying) | Sara Heesen (1-3) Drew Knapp (4-6) Andrew Philibeck (7-9) |
Tri Hards | Rebekah Bonilla (1-3) Adam Rayl (4-6) Sean Bryan (7-9) |
Loss | 0-1 | |
American Ninja Warrior Results[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Failed Propeller Bar (Stage One) |