Creative writing major for 500, Alex

By Jennifer Torline

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Mark Petterson competed in his own Border Showdown on Monday’s episode of the “Jeopardy!” College Championship tournament.

Petterson, Prairie Village senior, tried to outsmart Laura Myers from the University of Missouri and Jennifer Duann from Ohio State University for a chance to make it to the tournament’s semi-final and final rounds next week where there is a $100,000 grand prize. Petterson is the first KU student to appear on the show.

After answering questions about the Big 12 and Google, Petterson took second place with $16,200. Myers earned $21,600 and took first place in that episode — something that Petterson attributed to her quick buzzer-clicking skills.

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If the $16,200 that Mark Petterson earned on Monday is one of the top four non-winning scores by the end of the week, he is eligible to make it to the semifinal round of the “Jeopardy!” college tournament. Watch Friday’s show at 5 p.m. on KTKA, Sunflower Broadband channel 12, to see whether Petterson will make it to next week’s semifinals.

“It’s really easy to play at home, but you have three seconds to read the question to decide if you know the answer and then to get your self to buzz in before the other contestants, which is difficult in itself,” Petterson, a creative writing major, said.

To help Petterson celebrate his “Jeopardy!” appearance, more than 20 family members and friends gathered at the Red Lyon Tavern downtown on Monday to watch the show and cheer him on.

Joshua Jacobs, Petterson’s roommate and a “Lord of the Rings” fan, was thrilled when Petterson correctly answered a question about Shadowfax, the character Gandalf’s horse.

Jenny Hamil, Lenexa senior and one of Petterson’s friends, was also at the watch party. She said Petterson was someone who hoards all sorts of knowledge and tried to be well-versed in everything.

“I played Trivial Pursuit with him this past year and, basically, he knew everything on every card,” she said.

While Petterson does not get to keep all of the $16,200, he did earn $5,000 for being one of the 15 students chosen to participate in the tournament. He still has a chance to make it to next week’s semi-finals.

The “Jeopardy!” College Championship is slightly different from the regular game show. Each day this week three students from colleges across the county compete against each other. The winners of each game as well as the next four highest money earners will go to the semi-final and final matches next week.

SIBLING RIVALRY FOR 200

But long before Petterson made his “Jeopardy!” debut he had to audition for the show.

The process of making it onto “Jeopardy!” began as a contest last year between Petterson and his brother, Joel, Prairie Village freshman. The two took the show’s preliminary online quiz to see who could get the higher score. Nearly 10,000 students nationwide took the test, said Maggie Speak, “Jeopardy!” contestant coordinator.

Both brothers received high enough scores to be invited to Chicago in October for an in-person audition where each had to play a pretend game of “Jeopardy!” and do a 30-second video interview.

Several months later Petterson received a phone call from a producer of “Jeopardy!” The phone call came at an inopportune time — Petterson was sitting in the emergency room with a bloody chin. A ladder had hit him in the face when he was painting houses earlier that afternoon.

“The ironic thing was that I was actually too poor to pay for stitches, so they super glued my chin together,” Petterson said.

The producer told Petterson that he was one of the students chosen to appear on the 21st “Jeopardy!” College Championship.

Petterson thought the call was a prank.

Fortunately for Petterson, the call wasn’t a prank, and he soon found himself flying to Los Angeles to spend a week filming the show.

“He’s a little bit different than what you would consider a ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant,” Speak said. “He’s got an air of a rock and roller about him.”

Speak described Petterson as “surprise game player”: a contestant who plays quietly and then makes several big moves.

But Petterson, a self-proclaimed “slacker,” said he has a good memory and a knack for remembering facts.

“I don’t know how I’ve accumulated these random bits of knowledge,” Petterson said. “I don’t read the dictionary or encyclopedia.”

He’s already bought tickets to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with his prize money and hopes that next time he has to go to the emergency room, he can avoid the super glue.

“Hopefully, I’ll win some money and the next time I can get my face repaired correctly,” Petterson said.

— — Edited by Chris Hickerson

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