IN JEOPARDY: Ritenour High School German teacher Patrick Quinn advanced to the semi-finals of "Jeopardy" last night by ending up with $20,001 in winnings.

Quinn, 34, of Chesterfield moved ahead with his correct answer to the final Jeopardy question: "This third-smallest state in area is home to the USA's third-oldest college." The answer was, "What is Connecticut?"

Quinn, 34, of Chesterfield, is now a semi-finalist in the "Jeopardy Teachers Tournament," and will compete again on Feb. 24. The tournament's quarter-finals run through Tuesday, with semi-final competition starting on Wednesday.

If Quinn wins the semifinals, he will advance to the finals, which are scheduled to air Feb. 27 and Feb. 28. If he does not advance, he will leave the show with $10,000 as a quarter-finals winner.

"Jeopardy" airs weekdays at 4:30 p.m. on KSDK (Channel 5).

Quinn said today that he's been sick the past week with a cold and hasn't been able to celebrate last night's broadcast victory with his students, family and friends.

Quinn is among 15 players who were selected to compete in the teachers tournament, which was filmed last month in Culver City, Calif.

In an interview after he was selected to be on the show, Quinn said he felt sort of guilty because he had "applied on a lark." Despite that, Quinn added that he wouldn't mind winning the competition, which comes with a $100,000 grand prize and a guaranteed spot in the "Tournament of Champions."

Quinn is originally from St. Joseph, Mo. He met his wife, Elizabeth Wiggins, who grew up in Town & Country, when they were students at the University of Missouri Columbia. Wiggins is a researcher at Monsanto. Quinn has both his undergraduate and graduate degrees in German from Mizzou.

In boning up for the show, Quinn said he had done more reading than usual.

"It's been a great sort of nudge for me to go and read all the Shakespeare I should have read 20 years ago," he said. "They always seem to have a lot of questions about Shakespeare in there."