‘Jeopardy!’ Notebook: On Day 20, Dayton native becomes 5th-highest earning champion

Amy Schnieder, an Oakland, California engineering manager with roots in Dayton, is the reigning nine-time “Jeopardy” champion. Her current winnings total $342,200.

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Credit: CONTRIBUTED

Amy Schnieder, an Oakland, California engineering manager with roots in Dayton, is the reigning nine-time “Jeopardy” champion. Her current winnings total $342,200.

Amy Schneider on Tuesday became a 20-day “Jeopardy!” champion.

Schneider, a Dayton native, is now tied with Julia Collins who won 20 games in 2014 for the winningest women in the game show’s history.

“Julia Collins won 20 games and so this is my 20th game and so I just wanted to wear a sweater in tribute,” Schneider said at the start of the show of Collins who wore a similar look for her 20th win.

Only host Ken Jennings with 74 games, Matt Amodio with 38 games and James Holzhauer with 32 games are ahead of the pair.

The Chaminade-Julienne graduate added $23,400 on Tuesday, bringing her 20-day total to $768,600. She is the fourth-highest earning champion in regular-season play, the fifth-highest earning champion for all-time winnings — surpassing David Madden on Tuesday — and is the show’s top female earner.

Schneider won even though she bet zero on the Final Jeopardy! question: “The flooding of this river in 1966 destroyed or damaged some 14,000 works of art, many of them priceless.” The other two contestants incorrectly guessed the Seine in France. Schneider correctly answered the Arno in Italy.

She also became the show’s first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions last month.

Schneider can be seen on “Jeopardy!” weeknights at 7:30 on WDTN Channel 2.

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