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Larissa Kelly (born 1980) is a Jeopardy! contestant who resides in El Cerrito, California. During her regular run on Jeopardy!, she won a total of $222,597 over seven games, with her last appearance airing May 28, 2008. Excluding tournament winnings, Kelly is the game's third all-time non-tournament money winner (behind Ken Jennings and Dave Madden), and the biggest non-tournament money winner in the show's history among female contestants.^[1]^[2]^[3] In addition to being the highest-winning female contestant in regular play, Kelly set the record, formerly held by Jennings, for most money won in a contestant's first five games ($179,797). (These figures came after Jeopardy! doubled its clue values; if other scores are adjusted Kelly and Jennings both trail Frank Spangenberg, whose adjusted total is $205,194.)

Kelly grew up in Newton, Massachusetts^[4] and attended Newton North High School where she helped lead the science bowl team to national competition.^[5] She graduated from Princeton University in 2002 and is now a graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, studying the history of archaeology in Mexico in the 19th century.^[6] She played quiz bowl at both Princeton and Berkeley.^[7]^[8] On August 3, 2002, she married her quiz bowl teammate Jeff Hoppes.^[9]

She is one of three members of her family to have played on Jeopardy!, all between 2004 and 2008, and the only winner of the three. Her husband was defeated by Jennings in his 70th game as champion. Her sister Arianna was defeated in her initial Jeopardy! appearance, in part due to questionable calls that prompted Standards and Practices to bring her back for a second appearance; in her second appearance, Arianna was defeated by Aaron Schroeder, who later faced Larissa in the 2009 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions finals.

In the 2009 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in Las Vegas, Kelly won her quarterfinal match, which aired on March 12, 2009.^[10] She went on to win her semifinal match with a score of $30,000. After the first game of the two-game finals, she led Dan Pawson, her nearest competitor, by $24,400 to $22,301. She lost to Pawson in the second game after failing to identify George II of Great Britain as the last British ruler to be born outside the United Kingdom in the Final Jeopardy! round. She won $100,000 for finishing second.

Larissa Kelly is also an author of science fiction, with one story, "Engines of Survival", published at Strange Horizons.

Records

During her streak, Kelly broke the following Jeopardy! records:

Description	Current Record	Previous Record
Highest 5-game total on Jeopardy!, first 5 games (unadjusted)	US$179,797 by Larissa Kelly	US$156,000 by Ken Jennings
Highest total winnings on Jeopardy! by a female player in non-tournament play	US$222,597 by Larissa Kelly	US$122,300 by Maria Wenglinsky, 2005
Longest winning streak on Jeopardy! by a female player in non-tournament play	6 games by Larissa Kelly	5 games by various contestants
Longest streak (from first appearance) of correct Final Jeopardy! responses on Jeopardy!	10 games by Larissa Kelly	9 games by Leah Greenwald

References

External links

Larissa Kelly's profile at the Jeopardy! Archive

Preceded by Mehrun Etebari	Biggest winners on Jeopardy! by season 2007-2008	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Jennifer Gotcher	Biggest one-day total on Jeopardy! by season 2007-2008	Succeeded by Incumbent
Preceded by Doug Hicton	Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions first runner-up 2009	Succeeded by Incumbent

This biography of an American academic is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[1] Grad student sets Jeopardy! record - UPI.com

[2] The mighty Quinn - The Boston Globe

[3] ttp://www.contracostatimes.com/ci_9396307

[4] Jeopardy! press release

[5] Archived copy of Department of Energy website

[6] Berkeley Grad Spotlight

[7] Berkeley Quizbowl Pictures

[8] Princeton Quizbowl Pictures

[9] Yahoo! Groups

[10] Berkeley press release about the Tournament of Champions

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 She is one of three members of her family to have played on ''Jeopardy!'', all between 2004 and 2008, and the only winner of the three. Her husband was defeated by Jennings in his 70th game as champion. Her sister Arianna was defeated in her initial ''Jeopardy!'' appearance, in part due to questionable calls that prompted [[Standards and Practices]] to bring her back for a second appearance; in her second appearance, Arianna was defeated by Aaron Schroeder, who later faced Larissa in the 2009 ''[[Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions]]'' finals.
-In the 2009 ''Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions'' in Las Vegas, Kelly won her quarterfinal match, which aired on March 12, 2009.<ref>[http://grad.berkeley.edu/news/larissa_kelly.shtml Berkeley press release about the Tournament of Champions]</ref> She went on to win her semifinal match with a score of $30,000. After the first game of the two-game finals, she led Dan Pawson, her nearest competitor, by $24,400 to $22,301. She lost to Pawson after an incorrect Final Jeopardy! response in the second game of the match. She won $100,000 for finishing second.
+In the 2009 ''[[Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions]]'' in Las Vegas, Kelly won her quarterfinal match, which aired on March 12, 2009.<ref>[http://grad.berkeley.edu/news/larissa_kelly.shtml Berkeley press release about the Tournament of Champions]</ref> She went on to win her semifinal match with a score of $30,000. After the first game of the two-game finals, she led Dan Pawson, her nearest competitor, by $24,400 to $22,301. She lost to Pawson in the second game after failing to identify [[George II of Great Britain]] as the last British ruler to be born outside the [[United Kingdom]] in the Final Jeopardy! round. She won $100,000 for finishing second.
 Larissa Kelly is also an author of [[science fiction]], with one story, "[http://www.strangehorizons.com/2008/20081222/engines-f.shtml Engines of Survival]", published at [[Strange Horizons]].