Jeopardy!® Champion: SIUE’s Lasiter to Defend Title Today
Southern Illinois University Edwardsville’s Kelly Lasiter not only checked a long-held item off her bucket list, but did it in champion style when she won $22,800 on Jeopardy!® during her first appearance Tuesday, July 11.
Lasiter, an office support associate in the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of Social Work, will return to defend her title at 4:30 CST Wednesday, July 12. She will compete against contestants from Seattle and Toronto.
“I’ve wanted to be on Jeopardy!® since I was a kid,” Lasiter said. “It was hard to believe I was really there! The atmosphere during the competition was surreal. The game almost moves too quickly to be nervous during it, but whenever the action slows down, such as during commercial breaks or when deciding what to bet during Final Jeopardy!®, it all catches up with you and it gets tense.”
Lasiter, of Granite City, had been waiting for the opportunity to compete for years. She tried out for the Teen Tournament around 1993, but didn’t make the cut. She later took an online test, and then was randomly chosen from a group of those that performed well on the test and invited to audition in Detroit last year.
“After the audition, they can call you anytime within 18 months, or they might not call at all,” she explained. “I got the call in February. The show was filmed in late March in Los Angeles.”
Lasiter confirmed her big win during Final Jeopardy!® when she answered this question: One in Europe and one in Africa, these two landlocked countries start with the same two letters and end with the same four.
The correct answer: Switzerland and Swaziland.
Just being on the show was a dream come true for Lasiter, but taking the top prize was the icing on the cake.
“I wasn’t expecting to win and had pretty much made my peace with losing,” Lasiter recalled. “But, the answer to the Final Jeopardy!® question came to me pretty quickly. When I won, I was completely shaken up. It was an experience I’m glad I had. It was definitely on my bucket list.”
Photo: Jeopardy!® champion Kelly Lasiter, of Granite City
