In the electrifying world of “Jeopardy”, a new name is lighting up the scoreboard–one that might sound familiar: Liam Starnes.
But what led up to this moment? Starnes, a 2021 graduate, had various accomplishments during his time at BHS. His most notable achievements include being a National Merit Scholar, a Latin Team wizard, and the John Armstrong Memorial Scholarship recipient. Furthermore, Starnes made history as the first-ever captain of the BHS Scholastic Bowl team—an honor he didn’t just wear but wielded, eventually leading the team to a national championship.
However, Starnes’s hobby in Scholastic Bowl began long before he wore the title of captain. His love for learning took root in childhood, well before he ever picked up a buzzer.
“I’ve loved to learn things ever since I was a little kid,” Starnes said. “Maybe it started when I was about six and I got hold of the Guinness World Records book for 2011. I’ve been playing scholastic bowl for half of my life—since middle school.”
Starnes first crossed paths with his Scholastic Bowl coach and role model, Jeffrey Price, back in sixth grade at Station Middle School. Price reminisces on the day he met Starnes– one of his most cherished students.
“I first met Liam on his first day of middle school, as I was teaching his 6th-grade extended math class. He was quite bright and well-liked by his peers, as he had numerous friends from his time at Hough Street who were in his classes, too. Their culture of striving to learn and discover the world made them obvious choices to join the scholastic bowl team,” Price said.
Starnes’ decision to join the scholastic bowl team led him on the path to being on “Jeopardy”; however, Starnes credits Price’s guidance as a cornerstone of his journey to success.
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Liam Starnes (front and center) and his team holding Station Middle School most recent state championship trophy in 2017 with Jeffery Price (far left) . Photo courtesy of Jeffery Price.
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Liam Starnes (middle) with his 8th grade teammates after winning the 2017 IESA State Championship over Rockford Marshall. Photo courtesy of Jeffery Price.
“I’ve always looked up to my middle and high school scholastic bowl coach, Jeff Price. I would never have made it on “Jeopardy” or won the national championship if it wasn’t for Mr. Price,” Starnes said.
To prepare for “Jeopardy”, a thrilling reality TV series, where nerves and memory collide. Starnes shares his strategies.
“I love to go through old questions and pretend I’m playing the game. That said, there are a lot of different ways to learn things that work for different people, but one general piece of advice I have is to make it interesting. It is going to feel a lot more fun, and stick in your brain much better, if you are learning something in an enjoyable way rather than just memorizing flashcards,” Starnes said.
Starnes shares how much fun the process of learning and being on “Jeopardy” is. Despite this, the stakes are high, and so are the nerves.
This mindset paid off big. Starnes appeared on the Friday, April 18 episode of “Jeopardy” and placed second at the beginning of
the episode; however, he bested his first-place competitor and quickly built momentum to secure the win and become a “Jeopardy” champion. At the conclusion of the episode, Starnes had a $12,601 lead and walked away with $32,401.
Tune in tonight at 7 pm to witness Starnes’ success as he defends that title of “Jeopardy” champion.