The 5 Female Challenge Underdogs we wish were on Invasion

This season has given us a strong crop of Underdog females. It has been a joy to watch solid rookie females in Nicole Z and Kailah, solid second timers in Ashley and Amanda, and then queen Jenna. Sylvia is also there.

The non-champion females that I am excluding from this quick list are mostly due to them being removed from the Challenge universe. I love Theresa and Jonna, but being recent mothers, they have more important priorities. Jenn and Mandi were crazy fun back in their hey-day and look capable to do another, but it is probably better that they move forward in their lives, rather than backwards. Svetlana and Brittni would be cool, but considering they haven’t been on the Challenge in this decade, we’d be hard pressed to expect them ever coming back.

1. Heather Cooke — 1 season, 1 final, (2–0) elimination record, biggest achievements: 2nd Rivals 2, College Soccer and Women’s professional leagues, undefeated in elimination. Last appearance: Season 24 Rivals 2. Cooke’s single appearance on the drama feels like a fever dream. She showed up on the Real World Las Vegas halfway through for a boring second half of the season(boring in comparison to the hot and wild first half). Then three seasons after Vegas people premiered on the Challenge, she showed up to be my Naomi’s teammate for Rivals 2. Naomi had to leave after the first Challenge, and she was replaced with Cara Maria — a person Cooke had never met in person. She went on the be the first alpha female to premier on the Challenge since Laurel, she had a bark and a bite. Cooke proved to be a great swimmer, strong, good cardio, and have excellent size on top of her godly calves. Cooke would often get angry at Cara Maria whenever she lost, which isn’t the best sportsmanship, but it is the competitive fever that I love. We need Cooke to come back and do 1 more Challenge.
2. Nany Carmen Gonzalez — 6 seasons, 1 final, (3–5) elimination record, biggest achievements: 2nd place Free Agents, winning her way out of exile on Exes 2, 4th Exes 2. Last appearance: Seasons 28 Rivals 3. While I understand the distaste for Nany by some people for her lifestyle and for those who think she is overrated as a competitor, but I really wish Nany put in one more Challenge before she is done. Seasons like Invasion were built for the Underdogs that never won a Challenge to get their chance to push through and finally punch a win. Nany has come so close so many times, she was 8 minutes behind Laurel on the Free Agents final, lost on the final elimination for Exes 2, lost on the second to last elimination for both Rivals 2 and 3, and was Trishelle’d out of Seasons 2. She was always a great physical competitor despite her smoking and party life-style, she never wanted to disappoint her teammate, and was inches away multiple times. It hurts never watching great competitors stand atop the mountains with the big check in their hands, but when they finally did it was just so gratifying.
3. KellyAnne Judd — 4 seasons, 1 final, (4–2) elimination record, biggest achievements: 2nd the Ruins, won 1 v 1 elimination with Nany(Bloodlines), dated America’s sweetheart(Cohutta), yoga expert. Last appearance: Season 28 Rivals 3. Just like Nany, we just want to see the good female competitors actually win a Challenge after many attempts. KellyAnne has actually only been on only four seasons, but she’s been in the MTV universe for over a decade now since Real World Sydney. She’s one of the hottest female competitors ever, but has also proven to be a strong competitor even with her small stature. On the Ruins the Champion females were afraid to go up against her, and she ended up almost edging out the stacked male champion with Sarah Rice on her first legit challenge(the Island was lame). It would be nice to see her go for it one more time with that Underdog label. Forgettable now, but the girls used to view KellyAnne as one of the best competitors when she first showed up.
4. Averey Tressler — 2 season, 0 finals, (2–1) elimination record, biggest achievements: 7th Exes 2, two elimination wins on Exes 2, lasted an hour in a physical elimination against a girl twice her size(Nia). Last appearance: Season 28 Rivals 3. This may just be a ME thing, but Averey wowed me on her performance during Exes 2. Throughout the season she showed up and excelled even with the turmoil of the relationship between her and her ex-boyfriend Johnny Reilly. Very little do we see couple s with actual bad blood compete on Exes, but those two loved each other, lived together, and it all fell apart. The wounds were open and salt was poured on them everyday with daily challenges and eliminations. She proved herself to be a great swimmer, finishing closely behind Wes/Theresa and Sarah/Jordan on the swimming challenges — an incredible feat. Averey also never complained when competing, and won 2 eliminations. Her one loss was a 1 on 1 physical math with Nia, who has 60+ lbs on her, and almost a foot taller. Last time Averey was on, she had to leave early due to an injury to LeRoy, so it would be good to watch her get a fair shake this season. She also just happens to be one of the most beautiful girls in Challenge history.
5. Brianna Julig — 1 season, 1 final, (0–0) elimination record, biggest achievements: 3rd(Bloodlines), having a job at a bakery, TJ telling her that maybe she was made for the Challenge. Last appearance: Season 27 Bloodlines. This is going to be short and simple, I feel the girl cast this season is very good as it has many of the good female competitors besides the new Real World Bad Blood girls who will be cast soon, as MTV does with it’s main feeder program. Brianna was annoying on her season of Bloodlines, and it is still shocking to this day that she made the final, and that her and Jenna actually did well. I would like to see her come back and lose.

Honorable Mentions: Nia Moore, Brittany Baldissari, Tori Deal(AYTO 4)