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UCLA SOPHOMORE CLIFF GALIHER WINS $100,000 GRAND PRIZE IN THE 2007 "JEOPARDY!" COLLEGE CHAMPIONSHIP

 

(CULVER CITY, CA) May 11th, 2007-- Cliff Galiher, a 20-year-old History major at UCLA, took first place in the prestigious 2007 Jeopardy! College Championship, taking home $100,000 in cash winnings.  Galiher emerged victorious after a two-week competition by outscoring 14 undergraduates from across the country, including contestants from Harvard, Yale, Stanford and USC. The special series of episodes were taped at the recently completed Galen Center on the campus of the University of Southern California.

"I still can't believe I won at USC!  Go Bruins!" said Galiher. "It was tough to compete with Tommy Trojan staring at me from across the stage. I was so afraid of embarrassing myself and facing a hostile crowd, but I was thrilled and encouraged by all the UCLA students and alumni who came out to support me!"

Galiher, an aspiring filmmaker, is a self-proclaimed movie buff and currently up to #391 out of "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die." A native of Half Moon Bay, Calif., he is a devoted San Francisco Giants fan and also enjoys playing a variety of video games during his leisure time. When asked what he'll do with his winnings, Galiher said, "I promised my roommate that, no matter how much (or little) I won, I'd be getting us a nice big TV for our apartment.  Also, I'm set on becoming a filmmaker, so I'll be setting the lion's share of my winnings aside for some day in the future when I'm a starving artist in need of capital."

Craig Boge, a senior at Stanford University finished second in the tournament, winning $50,000.  Third place winner Christine Kennedy, a freshman at Notre Dame, pocketed $25,000.  Kennedy hails from Lancaster, Ohio, while Boge grew up in Prosser, Wash.

Jeopardy!, a winner of 27 Emmy awards since its debut in 1984, was recently inducted into the Guinness Book of World Records for the most awards won by a TV Game Show. The series is the #1-rated quiz show in syndication, and has held that title for over 1,000 weeks. 

Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television, a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company. It is distributed domestically and internationally by CBS Television Distribution, a unit of CBS Corp. 

For interview opportunities with the contestants please contact the Jeopardy! Public Relations Department at the numbers listed below.