MUNCIE, Ind. -- A senior at the state’s only public residential high school for academically gifted students, is a contestant on JEOPARDY!, one of the longest-running television game shows.

Lina Ghosh, 17, the daughter of Sudip and Aparna Ghosh of Evansville, is in the semifinal round of the program’s Teen Tournament, which was taped in late 1998. The show was broadcast Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. on on WISH-TV, a CBS affiliate in Indianapolis.

The two-week contest annually brings the nation’s top academically-ranked teen-agers together to compete for cash and prizes.

"We are very proud of Lina," said Tracy L. Cross, executive director of the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities. "The students gathered last week to watch her compete as they plan to tonight."

Fifteen of America's best and brightest are competing for a $25,000 jackpot in the game show’s annual Teen Tournament. Host Alex Trebek presides over the ultimate test of knowledge airing from Feb. 22 to March 5.

Students at the Indiana Academy for Science, Mathematics and Humanities plan to gather around a television in the residence hall lounge tonight to cheer on their classmate. The academy is the state’s only state-supported residential high school for academically gifted juniors and seniors.

In the first week, all players appeared in a series of five shows. The winners of rounds, plus the four highest money winners, go to the semi-finals. The semi-finalists compete in three shows the following week and the three winners of those shows proceed to a two-game final match. The three finalists keep the money with a minimum guarantee of $10,000 for third place, and $15,000 for second place. The overall winner is guaranteed $25,000 or the best of his/her two-day total. Players eliminated in the first round receive $2,500 and the six players eliminated in the semi-finals each pocket $5,000.

(NOTE TO EDITORS: Contact Ghosh at (765) 285-8125 and Cross at (765) 285-7457.)