Two McHenry County residents on 'Jeopardy!'

McHenry County is going to be represented on “Jeopardy!” twice in the next two weeks.

First, Lake in the Hills resident Lynn Hammerlund, an associate professor at Judson University and president of the Algonquin Area library board, will be featured in Thursday's episode.

Then, Cary's Anne Rozek, a junior at Eastern Illinois University, will be featured Feb. 2 in the College Championship episode, for which 15 students from across the country were selected.

Both described themselves as — what else? — trivia fans who relished the chance to participate in a show they follow avidly.

Hammerlund, 52, said she got her first “Final Jeopardy!” question right at age 12, when she correctly chose Nashville as the only capital that ends with “ille.” In 2000, Hammerlund was on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” though she didn't win any money.

A heart attack survivor, Hammerlund said this was the third time she got a call after taking the entry test. In September 2001, she couldn't get on any flights to California. In 2008, she needed to attend her mother-in-law's funeral.

Hammerlund said she prepares with lots of crossword puzzles, and used some of the techniques she teaches in her research methods class, like touching your elbow to the opposite knee — an action that crosses both hemispheres of the brain — and stimulating the top of your ears — which in turn somehow stimulates thinking.

“It was a wonderful experience. The 10 other people, they are a very nice group. We're all emailing each other, and we are all having trouble working because it's our week (to be on the show),” said Hammerlund, who will watch the show with friends and family on a big screen in the Judson chapel.

Rozek, 19, says her whole family is into trivia. “My parents are trivia nerds — we do ‘Trivial Pursuit,' watch shows like ‘Jeopardy!' and ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire?'” said Rozek, who also participated in scholastic bowls in high school.

The taping in Los Angeles was a great experience, but it was “unbelievably stressful,” she said.

“I didn't think I'd get that nervous, but I was. I put a lot of pressure on myself, just because you've been selected among thousands of people,” she said.

The geography major said she hoped for questions about topics like capitals, bodies of water, and countries. To prepare, she pored over books like “Art for Dummies” and “Music History for Dummies” to brush up on her not-so-strong topics, she said.

As for where she'll watch the episode, “I was hoping I could leave the country that day,” she joked.

She'll likely be at her residence hall, where her friends are planning to throw a little viewing party.