Saint John teacher still in running for Jeopardy! tournament

A teacher from Saint John, N.B., who was the only Canadian to qualify for the Jeopardy! Teachers Tournament, placed third in theTV game show that aired Thursday night.

But Maryanne Lewellmay get to play again, depending on how well the other contestants do during Friday night's show.

The episode wasactually filmed in California at the end of October, butLewellisn't allowed to discuss the results.

A wild card spot could still be open for her because of the way the TeachersTournament is structured.

Lewellaced final Jeopardy! during Thursday night's show, answering her question correctly and doubling her score to $18,800.

But she came in thirdone dollar behind the second place contestant.

John Pearson, from Texas, won the game.

Lewell says herfavourite part of the game waswhen she started to clear the Canadian geography category.

"I got Canadiangeography.I had no idea that they even had Canadian geography. They are truly random, and, the American historythe first hundred yearsthat was a little bitmore challenging," she told CBC News.

"There was a questionabout Shakespeare quotes that had'ho' in them you know, 'What ho,' and 'Oh ho.' And Ikept on trying to buzzer in, but John is really really good on that buzzer."

Lewell says standing at the Jeopardy! podium is stressful,but the best thing to do is just try to block it out.

"You're in the moment, right, and you're trying to just be in that moment and to ignore everything else because ifyou let yourself think, 'OK, well, there's going to bemillions of people watching this,' thenyou'd freeze," she said.

"The best thing to do is just to ignore all of the trappings of it, to ignore as much as you can the lights, the TV, Johnny Gilbert saying your name. You know, if you ignore all of that, if you manage to do it and just play the game, you'llbe fine."

Lewell had to complete an online test, an in-person audition and a mock quiz game with other contestants before she made it onto the show.

Competing on Jeopardy! was something she'd wanted to do since she was a child, she said.