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 locationOrlando, Florida
CinematographyMatthias Schubert
EditorNikki Fabery de Jonge
Running time180 minutes
Production company'51 Dons
Original release
NetworkESPN2, ESPNU

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

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
1 16' Ladder
2 3' Hump Overs
3 18' Cargo Crawl
4 Rolling Log
5 6' Over/Under/Thru
6 6' Inverted Wall
7 Balance/Carry
8 Angled Wall
9 Dirty Name
10 12' Rope Climb
11 McMurdo Station
12 4 Step Beams
13 Delta Ladder
14 Lily Pads
15 12' Rope Wall
16 Log Crawl
17 Wedge Donovan
18 Monkey Bars
19 Tsunami
20 Normandy Jacks

Season One (2015)

Season One Competitors
School Male Competitor 1 Male Competitor 2 Female Competitor 1 Female Competitor 2 Team Manager
Army Daniel Camacho David Ochs Jr. Kayla Carpenter Nicole Heavirland Tyree Meadows
Alabama John White Taylor Wood Shelby Akin Monica Vermillion Travis Taylor
Florida Erik Petrick Jacob Tyer Katie Alt Reilly Sullivan Alfie Sharp
Illinois David Alberts Seth Lankford Leya Allind Halie Kastl
Kentucky Cameron Cristofoli Noah Gawthrop Morgan Collins Madison Smith Jordan Burgess
Miami (FL) Steven De Nicola Adam O'Reilly Alison Scudds Leah Vertullo
Michigan John Pavletic Eli Zucker Camden Burk Cassandra Gardner Ellen Dixon
Ole Miss Joshua Brenc Jack Coffin Kim Duff Emily Lewis
N.C. State Zachary Leonard Robert Maughan Julianna Falzon Danielle Smith Charlie Lambrecht
Penn State Charles Ackerman Ryan Kalkbrenner Katharine Ferster Haley Schlechter Katherine Sparks
USC Corey Norris Brian Zukotynski Marilyn Crowley Leora Mitzner Kayla Howard-Anderson
Syracuse Frank Fuentes Jr. Elias Hubbard Danielle Gehman Katherine Roskoff Jordan Peters
Texas A&M Calvin Fusilier David Tolstyka Rebecca Hetu Sarah Pledger
Virginia Greg Coffin Michael Pender Katya Davydova Mira Korb
Wisconsin Sterling Chapin Matthew Koester Kimberly Kirt Cassandra Visintainer Aaron Hobson
Virginia Tech Blake Armstrong Shane Wescott Corinna Coffin Anna Taggart Kevin Righi

Season One Championship (2015)

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

Season One Championship
Seed Team Time
1 Army 02:13.9
2 Ole Miss 02:20.4

Season One Stats (2015)

Round of 16
Seed Team Time
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
Seed Team Time
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
Seed Team Time
1 Army 02:19.0
2 Ole Miss 02:36.5
3 Virginia Tech 02:44.1
5 Virginia 02:45.2
Finals
# Team Time
1st Army 02:13.9
2nd Ole Miss 02:20.4
3rd Virginia Tech 02:42.4
Top 10 Fastest Times
# Team Time Race
1 Army 02:13.9 Final
2 Army 02:19.0 Semifinals
3 Ole Miss 02:20.4 Final
4 Army 02:25.2 Quarterfinals
5 Ole Miss 02:30.3 Quarterfinals
6 Ole Miss 02:36.5 Semifinals
7 Army 02:40.6 Qualifying
8 Ole Miss 02:42.0 Qualifying
9 Virginia Tech 02:42.4 Third Place
10 Virginia Tech 02:43.8 Quarterfinals

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]

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
  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.
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