‘Jeopardy!’ Semifinalist in a Category of Her Own

Kira Whelan has watched “Jeopardy!” since she was 7, and always figured she was a pretty good armchair contestant.

But the 17-year-old never dreamed she would end up on the show.

Whelan--a senior at Los Alamitos High School--and 14 other teenagers were chosen from about 10,000 applicants to compete for more than $25,000 in prizes on the “Jeopardy!” Teen Tournament.

After breezing through the October quarterfinal competition in Century City, Whelan, of Seal Beach, and nine other teens made it to the semifinals, which were taped last week in Washington, the first time “Jeopardy!” has taken its show on the road.

Whelan was the only contestant from California competing in the quarterfinals. Her semifinal match airs at 7 tonight on KABC-TV Channel 7.

“When I first found out I had been chosen to compete, I was speechless,” Whelan said. “It was a lot of fun and it was pretty cool to meet students from all over the country.”

The teen said the highlights of her trip included a tour of the White House and getting to know “Jeopardy!” host Alex Trebek.

“He has the best sense of humor,” she said. “He related to the teens very well and treated us with a lot of respect.”

As a result of making it to the semifinals, the honor student and National Merit semifinalist received $5,000 and other prizes. She plans to use the money for college.

“I’m applying to colleges now, and my dream is to get accepted to Harvard,” she said.

Whelan said she knew most of the answers during competition but had a heck of a time getting to the buzzer.

“It’s so easy at home,” she said. “But it isn’t easy when you’re competing.”