MU senior beats KU student in 'Jeopardy'

COLUMBIA — MU senior Laura Myers was one of 15 students to compete in the College Championship series on television's "Jeopardy." She beat a student from The Ohio State University and University of Kansas in the first round, which aired on Monday.

"It was still a surreal moment when Alex walked out," Myers said. Her victory against a KU student brought her a prize of $10,000 and advancement to the semi-finals. Although the series has already been taped, Myers cannot reveal her standing in the series.

There is a grand prize of $100,000 for the winner of the series, with $50,000 for second place and $25,000 for third place.

Myers was selected after taking a quiz for the show in October. She then received an invitation to audition in Chicago. At the audition, she took a 50-question test and went through several practice "Jeopardy" rounds. She was informed that she qualified for the show on the Friday before MU's spring break. She said that she and a friend were shopping in Walgreens when she saw that she had a voicemail from a number that she didn't recognize.

She called back, and at the end of the conversation was told that she would be on the show.

"I about died," Myers said.

Myers prepared by mostly by playing a "Jeopardy" board game and by watching the show in her spare time.

She didn't have much time to practice for the show, she said. But the show's producers did a good job of getting everyone comfortable onstage before the actual competition while they recorded promos for the show, which is filmed in Los Angeles.

Myers, a magazine journalism student, plans to graduate summa cum laude next week. She is a member of Kappa Tau Alpha, the journalism honors society, and Little Sisters of the Gold Rose, a service organization.

In 2008, she was an intern in London for Dow Jones Newswire and Forbes.com. She is working for Tiger Calling Club, which raises money for the Mizzou Annual Fund.