When long-time Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek introduced her in the first episode of the semi-finals, Kayla Kalhor gave the camera a Gator chomp, representing UF in this season of Jeopardy! College Championship.
The episode featuring Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore, aired on Monday. After earning a high score in the second episode of the quarter-finals and scoring second place, Kalhor returned as a wild card, one of the four highest-scoring non-winners from the first five episodes of the show.
Kalhor competed against Tyler Combs from Indiana University and Beni Keown from Northwestern University.
She won second place with $29,995, while Combs scored $32,800 and Keown scored $8,399.
Kalhor had zero incorrect answers throughout the entire game, but said her speed hitting the buzzer could have been faster. Players must buzz in first to have the chance to answer the clue.
“It did hurt, because it’s not like I didn’t know (the answers),” Kalhor said. “I just couldn’t buzz in.”
Though Kalhor thinks she could have done better, several UF students on the Facebook group Swampy Memes for Top Ten Public Teens shared memes about Kayla’s participation, including calling her “the queen of trivia” and a “crazy awesome Gator.”
Although Kalhor scored almost $30,000 during the episode, she will take home $10,000 as a semi-finalist. She plans to save some of her earnings for medical school while also buying items to entertain her while social distancing, such as art supplies, she said.
Kalhor’s biggest jump in the game was reaching $12,995 after answering the clue of the question that Keown got incorrect: “This word for a concept in Eastern religions comes from Latin roots for ‘made in flesh’ & ‘again.’” The answer was reincarnation.
She will not advance to the finals, and she’ll miss out on a chance to win the $100,000 prize.
“I did what I could and it wasn’t enough,” Kalhor said. “But I’m content with how I did.”
Contact Allessandra Inzinna at ainzinna@alligator.org. Follow her on Twitter @ainzinna.
The University of Florida Honors Program posts a photo on Facebook Monday of Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek and Kayla Kalhor, a 19-year-old UF chemistry sophomore who competed in the show's College Championship.
Allessandra is a third-year journalism major with a minor in English. In the past, she has covered local musicians and the cannabis industry. She is now the Student Government reporter for The Alligator. Allessandra paints and plays guitar in her free time.
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