BattleFrog College Championship

Last updated
BattleFrog College Championship
GenreSports
Written byTom Davis, Danny Llewelyn, Ron Luscinski
Directed byRon Luscinski
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes3
Production
Executive producersRon Luscinski, Danny Llewelyn, Tom Davis, Michael McAllister, Carlos Centurion and Leo Fernandez
Production location Orlando, Florida
CinematographyMatthias Schubert
EditorNikki Fabery de Jonge
Running time180 minutes
Production company'51 Dons
Release
Original network ESPN2, ESPNU

BattleFrog College Championship was a sports competition television series directed by Ron Luscinski and written by Luscinski, Tom Davis, and Danny Llewelyn.

Contents

Hosted by Ron Pitts, sportscaster and former NFL cornerback, and Evan Dollard, from American Ninja Warrior and American Gladiators , BattleFrog College Championship showcases 16 co-ed rival college teams competing for a national championship and academic scholarships on the ultimate sprint track obstacle course built by Navy Seals; this single-elimination competition was a 350-meter, four-person relay with over 20 obstacles testing the competitors' strength, speed, and endurance. [1] [2]

The competing colleges for season one included: Syracuse, Texas A&M, Penn State, the N.C. State Triathlon Club, Army, Alabama, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Miami (FL), Michigan, Ole Miss, USC, Virginia, Wisconsin and Virginia Tech. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8]

The three-episode series premiered on June 9, 2015, [9] in the United States on ESPN2. Following its U.S. release, the series aired in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Latin America.

As of August 2016, BattleFrog announced that they were closing their business. [10] [11]

Production

Casting for 64 athletes from 16 U.S. colleges began in September 2014. Competitors were selected based on their GPA and athletic performance. Filming commenced in Spring 2015 in Orlando, Florida, at Rock on Adventures Ranch alongside the BattleFrog obstacle race series Central Florida festival. Acclaimed sportscaster Ron Pitts and two-time American Ninja Warrior finalist Evan Dollard hosted the three-day single-elimination competition with sideline reporters, Emily Reppert from Fox Sports Southwest and Shawn Ramirez, two-time crossfit winner.

The series was produced by '51 Dons Film, LLC, and BattleFrog Obstacle Race series, and distributed by ESPN networks. [12]

Season One Obstacles (2015)

Obstacle #Obstacle Name
116' Ladder
23' Hump Overs
318' Cargo Crawl
4Rolling Log
56' Over/Under/Thru
66' Inverted Wall
7Balance/Carry
8Angled Wall
9Dirty Name
1012' Rope Climb
11McMurdo Station
124 Step Beams
13Delta Ladder
14Lily Pads
1512' Rope Wall
16Log Crawl
17Wedge Donovan
18Monkey Bars
19Tsunami
20Normandy Jacks

Season One (2015)

Season One Competitors
SchoolMale Competitor 1Male Competitor 2Female Competitor 1Female Competitor 2Team Manager
Army Daniel CamachoDavid Ochs Jr.Kayla CarpenterNicole HeavirlandTyree Meadows
Alabama John WhiteTaylor WoodShelby AkinMonica VermillionTravis Taylor
Florida Erik PetrickJacob TyerKatie AltReilly SullivanAlfie Sharp
Illinois David AlbertsSeth LankfordLeya AllindHalie Kastl
Kentucky Cameron CristofoliNoah GawthropMorgan CollinsMadison SmithJordan Burgess
Miami (FL) Steven De NicolaAdam O'ReillyAlison ScuddsLeah Vertullo
Michigan John PavleticEli ZuckerCamden BurkCassandra GardnerEllen Dixon
Ole Miss Joshua BrencJack CoffinKim DuffEmily Lewis
N.C. State Zachary LeonardRobert MaughanJulianna FalzonDanielle SmithCharlie Lambrecht
Penn State Charles AckermanRyan KalkbrennerKatharine FersterHaley SchlechterKatherine Sparks
USC Corey NorrisBrian ZukotynskiMarilyn CrowleyLeora MitznerKayla Howard-Anderson
Syracuse Frank Fuentes Jr.Elias HubbardDanielle GehmanKatherine RoskoffJordan Peters
Texas A&M Calvin FusilierDavid TolstykaRebecca HetuSarah Pledger
Virginia Greg CoffinMichael PenderKatya DavydovaMira Korb
Wisconsin Sterling ChapinMatthew KoesterKimberly KirtCassandra VisintainerAaron Hobson
Virginia Tech Blake ArmstrongShane WescottCorinna CoffinAnna TaggartKevin Righi

Season One Championship (2015)

The Army team won the coveted trident cup and academic scholarships.

Season One Championship
SeedTeamTime
1 Army 02:13.9
2 Ole Miss 02:20.4

Season One Stats (2015)

Round of 16
SeedTeamTime
1 Penn State 02:48.6
2 Miami (FL) 02:56.5
3 Ole Miss 02:58.2
4 Virginia 02:59.2
5 Virginia Tech 03:04.4
6 Army 03:06.6
7 Alabama 03:09.3
8 Wisconsin 03:38.2
9 Syracuse 03:42.5
10 Florida 04:11.8
11 N.C. State 05:11.2
12 Kentucky 05:28.1
13 Illinois 05:37.4
14 Texas A&M 05:47.1
15 USC 05:52.7
16 Michigan 10:10.0
Quarterfinals
SeedTeamTime
1 Army 02:25.2
2 Ole Miss 02:30.3
3 Virginia Tech 02:43.8
5 Virginia 02:59.1
7 Alabama 02:59.9
6 Miami (FL) 03:09.6
4 Wisconsin 04:24.8
8 Penn State 07:04.7
Semifinals
SeedTeamTime
1 Army 02:19.0
2 Ole Miss 02:36.5
3 Virginia Tech 02:44.1
5 Virginia 02:45.2
Finals
#TeamTime
1st Army 02:13.9
2nd Ole Miss 02:20.4
3rd Virginia Tech 02:42.4
Top 10 Fastest Times
#TeamTimeRace
1 Army 02:13.9Final
2 Army 02:19.0Semifinals
3 Ole Miss 02:20.4Final
4 Army 02:25.2Quarterfinals
5 Ole Miss 02:30.3Quarterfinals
6 Ole Miss 02:36.5Semifinals
7 Army 02:40.6Qualifying
8 Ole Miss 02:42.0Qualifying
9 Virginia Tech 02:42.4Third Place
10 Virginia Tech 02:43.8Quarterfinals

Reception

BattleFrog College Championship premiered episode one, First Round on ESPN2, Tuesday, June 9, 2015, [13] in primetime to a critically receptive audience. [14] Episodes two [15] and three subsequently aired in primetime on June 10 and 11, 2015. Following its premiere, season one aired 9 times nationally in the U.S. on ESPN Networks [16] and internationally in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Latin America. BattleFrog College Championship season one drew over two million viewers in the first week and garnered a strong fan-base making season two a highly anticipated program for 2016. [17] [18] [19]

On December 4, 2015, BattleFrog Obstacle Race Series was announced as the new title sponsor of college football's Fiesta Bowl, beginning with the January 2016 game. [20]

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References

  1. BattleFrog College Championship to Air on ESPN Networks, June 5, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Dan Curran
  2. "BattleFrog College Championships: A Look Into the Competition, June 17, 2015, Retrieved September 2015". Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  3. Ole Miss Finishes Second in BattleFrog College Championship, June 12, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Callie Daniels
  4. UM Students to Compete in National BattleFrog Collegiate Championship, February 4, 2014, Retrieved September 2015, Michael Piacentino
  5. Wisconsin Students Compete in BattleFrog College Championship on ESPN2, June 8, 2015, Retrieved September 2015 Archived September 6, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Triathlon Club featured in Inaugural Collegiate Obstacle Race, May 29, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Adam Sardinha". Archived from the original on September 15, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  7. "Spring Break? Not for Students Headed to BattleFrog, February 4, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Mike Piacentino". Archived from the original on May 16, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  8. Scudds to appear on ESPN broadcast, June 9, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Bellefontaine Examiner
  9. Direct TV, June 2015, Retrieved September 2015
  10. Afana, Dana (August 23, 2016). "BattleFrog cancels Michigan obstacle race four days before run". MLive.com. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  11. Davis, Matt (August 23, 2016). "BattleFrog cancels all races". obstacleracingmedia.com. Retrieved February 3, 2017.
  12. BattleFrog on ESPN: Welcome to the Sport of Obstacle Racing, June 10, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Margaret Schlachter
  13. TV Palace, June 7, 2015, Retrieved September 2015
  14. Obstacle Racing Media, June 10, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Matt B. Davis
  15. Obstacle Racing Media, June 11, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, Matt B. Davis
  16. Obstacle Course Race Championship, June 2015, Retrieved September 2015
  17. BattleFrog® Announces U.S. West Coast & Canadian Expansion, August 21, 2015, Retrieved September 2015
  18. BattleFrog on TV...Here We Go Again, June 10, 2015, Retrieved September 2015, John Wall [ permanent dead link ]
  19. "BattleFrog College Championship: 6 Ways the Short Form Race Will Change OCR, June 22, 2015, Retrieved September 2015". Archived from the original on October 17, 2015. Retrieved September 4, 2015.
  20. "BattleFrog Announced as Title Sponsor of 45th Annual Fiesta Bowl" (Press release). Fiesta Bowl. December 4, 2015. Archived from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved December 31, 2015.