Meet South Florida teen 'Jeopardy!' contestant Lucas Miner

Coconut Grove teen to make debut in Tuesday episode

MIAMI – Answer: Coconut Grove 17-year-old Lucas Miner is ready for his episode of "Jeopardy!" to air Tuesday.

Question: Who is an impressive South Florida teenager?

"It was a crazy process," Miner told Local 10 News on the eve of the episode's debut.

Miner said his grandmother -- a "Jeopardy!" super-fan -- got him hooked on the trivia show, so he took the online test for the teen tournament twice.

"The first year I tried out, nothing happened. Didn't do well enough, I guess," he said. "But then the second year -- last year, 2018 -- I did well enough to be called back to in-person auditions."

After the audition, his parents got the call last summer.

"At first, I didn't, like, register. I was like, 'OK, that's cool,'" Miner said. "And then, like, by the end of the conversation, I was like, 'Oh, God. Wow!'"

Miner was flown to Los Angeles in December to compete against other qualifying teens, calling the experience surreal.

"OK, I'm actually touching the 'Jeopardy!' buzzer and I'm actually playing the game," he recalled.

The Ransom Everglades School student is excited for the episode to air and hopes his journey will inspire other South Florida teens.

"Knowledge is the basis of what we build our opinions on, what we build our society on, and 'Jeopardy!' is, like, the epitome of knowledge in my opinion," Miner said.

So how did he do? You'll have to watch Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. on Local 10. 


About the Author:

Saira Anwer joined the Local 10 News team in July 2018. Saira is two-time Emmy-nominated reporter and comes to South Florida from Madison, Wisconsin, where she was working as a reporter and anchor.