On FIRE in the ARENA : Lights, Camera, Plenty of Action: Firefighter From Costa Mesa Survives a Grueling Battle With Television’s ‘American Gladiators’

When Tracy Jernegan first watched “American Gladiators” on television, she figured the whole thing had to be a put-on, a show with all the credibility of pro wrestling.

“I was always opposed to watching it,” Jernegan said. “It looked phony to me. Then I realized it was the real thing. After I sat down and really watched it, I could see they weren’t kidding around.”

Last week, Jernegan said the pulling, pushing and pummeling was no joke. The Costa Mesa resident was one of the female contestants battling the stars of the popular weekly series when production for the new season started in September.

With 750 noisy fans packing Stage 3 at the CBS-MTM Studios, Jernegan and the other participants went at it in a fierce struggle in which mind over matter sometimes was the key to survival.

Jernegan, 29, a Federal Express driver and part-time firefighter with the Orange County Fire Department, realized that mental toughness was particularly crucial.

In the day’s first event, a two-part competition in which a football-carrying challenger had to get past a gladiator for a touchdown and then throw another gladiator out of a small wrestling pit in 30 seconds to score points, Jernegan suffered a knee injury.

“I pivoted, and the bottom half of the the leg went one way, and the other half went the other way,” Jernegan said backstage as she held an ice pack on the right knee. “The (show’s) trainer checked it out and told me that if I limp, I’m gone.”

Although she was in pain, and the heavily wrapped knee limited her mobility, Jernegan stuck it out for the eight or so hours it takes to complete a taping session. The program films two shows at each session (in front of different audiences) to reduce the prolonged setup time between events. Half is taped in early afternoon, the other half in early evening, with a meal break in between. Jernegan’s first appearance is scheduled to air Sept. 19 (locally on Channel 9).

Even with the injury, Jernegan performed remarkably well. And though the show’s producers prefer not to announce the results for obvious reasons, viewers can expect to see Jernegan in the thick of things. She challenged the gladiators wholeheartedly, a display that didn’t go unnoticed by her opponents.

“I really respect her for coming back after hurting herself,” said Debbie Clark, a former All-American heptathlete at Nebraska who portrays the gladiator “Storm” on the show. “That’s the kind of determination that will give her a real good chance of winning.”

One of Jernegan’s best efforts came against Storm in the “Hang Tough” event, where a contestant hanging from rings tries to navigate from one end of the arena to the other while being pursued by a gladiator coming from the opposite direction. The stunt is a test of a participant’s upper-body strength, something Jernegan says she improved through her firefighting job.

“I knew it was one of the events I was strongest at,” Jernegan said. “It was also one I kind of had a strategy for. I was just able to sneak past her (Storm).”

Jernegan started thinking about rumbling with the gladiators once she knew the show was on the level. She tried out initially in January at the Los Angeles Coliseum and was chosen to compete a few weeks later at Pauley Pavilion as part of the “American Gladiators” national tour.

Her performances impressed the talent coordinators enough that they picked her along with 23 other women and 24 men from around the country to participate in the televised competition. The champions in the male and female divisions at the end of the tournament each could win $15,000 in cash and a $20,000 car; single-show contestants earn at least $500.

“The fact that you participated in different types of events attracted me,” Jernegan said. “They (contestants) looked like they were having a ball, and there’s money involved, so I said, ‘Why not?’ You feel like a big kid participating, but it’s also a tremendous challenge to go against someone of that physical stature and find out you can hold your own.”

Jernegan learned to fend for herself while growing up in Fallbrook. The youngest of five brothers and two sisters, Jernegan said she developed her competitive nature and physical toughness just to keep up with her siblings and to do her chores on the family’s ranch.

“Dragging a 70-pound feed bag down a hill was necessary and not a choice,” Jernegan said. “I guess that’s how I became such a physical person.”

She channeled that tenacity into basketball and, of all things, tennis at Fallbrook High. Later, while majoring in physical education at Cal State Long Beach, she played on a women’s rugby club team. Jernegan said tennis was a concession to her mother, Marion Lowell, who watched her compete in “American Gladiators” despite some reservations.

“My mom wasn’t real keen on the idea at first,” Jernegan said. “But she’s always been very supportive of my athletic endeavors.”

Jernegan said her devotion to sports, especially her favorite hobby of bodyboarding in Newport Beach, took a secondary role a couple of years ago when she decided to become a firefighter. She now works six to eight 24-hour shifts a month as a “floater,” filling in at stations from Dana Point to Seal Beach. The rest of the time, she works for Federal Express.

“I thought there was something out there I wanted to do, and I figured firefighters are usually welcomed with open arms wherever they go,” Jernegan said. “Plus, there are physical challenges involved with the job, and you are able to help people. It’s been very rewarding. I’ve gained a lot of confidence in my life because of that job.”

Jernegan projected that self-assurance in her gladiators competition, even though she admitted being nervous.

“There was a definite fear factor I had to overcome in almost all of the events,” she said. “The most difficult for me were the ones that involved running and spinning because of the injury. But when you finish, it makes you feel good about your accomplishment.”

Especially when it’s done with only one good knee.