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Arlington Heights teen ends Jeopardy! run

Selena Groh's run on the Jeopardy! Teen Tournament came to an end Tuesday after she bet it all on the final answer and came up with the wrong question.

But the Arlington Heights resident isn't letting defeat get her down. After winning her quarterfinal last week, the 17-year-old Buffalo Grove High School student said she was excited to make it as far as she did and happy to be a part of teen Jeopardy!

“I'm just really happy about the whole experience,” Groh said. “I played my best. Maybe I didn't do as well (Tuesday), but I had a great time regardless.”

Groh got a slow start in Tuesday's episode, not buzzing in for a correct answer until about halfway through the first round when she got $800 for a clue about the singer Adele.

Much of Tuesday's episode was interrupted by President Barack Obama's remarks about Russia and Ukraine.

“Not many people can say they've been bumped off the air by the president,” Groh said.

By the time the show returned, Groh had fallen far behind. She risked her whole pot of $3,000 on Final Jeopardy, which she got incorrect, ending the show with $0.

For making it to the semifinals, Groh walks away with $10,000 in prize money, which she said she will spend toward college and maybe a road trip after she graduates high school next spring.

Groh likely will have her pick of colleges since she scored a perfect 36 on the ACT twice — first last fall, when she took it voluntarily, and again in the spring, when it was mandated by the state. She also scored an 800 on both the math and verbal sections of the SAT.

Now that her run on Jeopardy is over, Groh said she is looking forward to getting back to life as usual and ready to start her senior year at Buffalo Grove High School in a few weeks.

“This was my 15 minutes of fame and I've had a great time,” she said. “I was happy just to play and I did my best. I had a great time and met some great people, so I'm really thankful for that.”

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