A former Foxboro High School Warrior is making the leap to American Ninja Warrior. Taylor “Teej” Johnson is back competing on her fifth season of the hit television show where contestants race through a high-octane obstacle course to compete for bragging rights and a possible $1 million prize.
Johnson, 29, of Foxboro, joked that she’s keeping up with the superlative she received when she graduated from Foxboro High, when she was voted “most athletic female” in the Class of 2012. Johnson believes she still holds a school record for the sit-and-reach — a fact her father, a custodian at the school, regularly confirms for her.
Jokes aside, Johnson said she really enjoys the challenges presented by the American Ninja Warrior obstacle courses.
“Definitely what got me hooked that there is something to challenge me. I was a gymnast, competitive cheerleader and ran track in high school. This show gives me an infinite number of possibilities for goal setting — I’m just going to keep coming back until I achieve them all.”
Johnson has already achieved one of her goals this season – getting to hit the buzzer for the first time when she qualified for the semi-finals in an episode that aired earlier this season. Her semi-final run will be featured in a future episode of the show.
Her 4-foot-11-inch stature lends itself to another goal -- being the shortest person to make it up the 14.5-foot Warped Wall. Her smaller stature means Johnson has to do some problem solving and more explosive jumps than a competitor that has a lot more stretch — her work to perfect precise moves on the wall have fellow competitors calling her the “Warped Wall Queen.”
“It’s been cool connecting with some of the other short ninjas because we have to approach things different. At the same time, I’m a little bit lighter so it does make the wear on my grip a bit less,” she said.
When she’s not racing on obstacle courses, Johnson works as a financial analyst for Massachusetts General Hospital. She works in the hospital’s cancer center protocol office with pharmaceutical companies that are doing clinical drug trials for cancer treatments.
Johnson is especially passionate about the job because her life has been deeply impacted by cancer. Her mom has battled breast, thyroid and skin cancer, while a beloved coach at Quinnipiac University, where Johnson and her grandfather both died from cancer.
Johnson said she enjoys using her business skills to help in the fight against cancer.
Johnson trains at Vitality Obstacle Fitness in Fall River about two hours a day, five days a week -- stepping it up even more when competition time arrives with her coach Jordan Thurston.
“We do a lot of conditioning. My coach in college had this analogy have a tool box and you’re always wanting to put more tools in your tool box but you also don’t want the tools to get rusty. So, we practice everything we can like jumping from a trampoline, swinging left to right or swinging right to left.”
Johnson said she has been having a great time on American Ninja, particularly getting to know fellow competitors who have a great camaraderie and support for each other.