2011 Salute of Champions: #25-21

#25: Lindsay Russo & Michelle Cannon ("Minute to Win It")

On February 9th, these two girls lost their first life in the 60-Second Circle when Michelle failed at the Egg Dance by about two seconds. They gained that life back when Lindsay mastered Blow Ball in :11. When they reached the $50K plateau by clearing Speed Eraser in :28, they got the 10-second power. Michelle struggled on "CD Dominoes", but she passed it w/ one second left to win them $125K. Michelle then pulled out a tough $250K win on Frankenstein w/ four seconds left on the clock. Then came Get Forked for their $500K stunt. Lindsay tried that three times, the last being w/ 1:10 on the timer, but it never happened for her; they still split $250K.

#24: Mark Runsvold ("Jeopardy!")

This Justin Bieber lookalike began his run in style w/ a $48K win on July 15th & a $55K victory on the 18th, which is the fourth-highest regulation game total to date! The next night, however, despite the fact that he was in Lock Game Territory after the Jeopardy! Round w/ $5,200, he wasn't as dominant after Double Jeopardy! w/ $17,400 to Tom Vaughan's $10,600. He did win that game w/ $21,201 after everybody got Final Jeopardy! right. Mark mostly got back to form on the 20th w/ a $29,799 win before busting out in FJ! that Thursday & leaving w/ $154,800. He won his first-round Tournament of Champions game on Nov. 8th before running into the machine known as Roger Craig in a semi-final game on Veteran's Day; he left w/ a grand total of $164,800 this year.

#23: Charles Temple ("Jeopardy!")

He first appeared in the inaugural Teachers Tournament on May 5th & trailed Sally Umbach $6,100-$2,800 after the first round while she was in LGT. However, Charles turned it around in DJ! by being successful on both DDs & locking up the win. Six nights later, the FJ! clue posed to him & Kathy Casavant in 20th Century Novels was "'A Girl From a Different World' & 'Train to the Urals' were chapters in this 1957 work. Kathy was right w/ "What is 'Doctor Zhivago'?" to finish w/ $23K, but despite leaving out the H in that title, Charles' FJ! response that time was acceptable to send him to the finals w/ $24,001. Following the first part of the finals, he was trailing Virginia's Lori Kissell $26,300-$18,800. But Charles then put the pedal to the metal in DJ! on Day #2, racking up $24.5K just before FJ! that episode to Lori's $4,600, mathematically making it impossible for him to be caught even w/ a Triple Stumper in FJ! to end the tourney. As a result, he won the $100K, but he fell in the very first game of the ToC to leave w/ $105K.

#22: Tom Kunzen ("Jeopardy!")

He began his reign on Mar. 15th w/ $28K in a game where there were no TSs at all (a rarity). Yet another unusual occurrence happened in his second game, when both his opponents wiped out before FJ! (only the second time ever in regular competition); he wound up winning 30 grand that night. On St. Patrick's Day, he fell just short of another LG win, but still got the right question in FJ! to edge out Zack Azzam by a buck w/ $33,601. He was denied his sixth win, though, on Mar. 22nd by former "Millionaire" winner Megan Barnes, who wound up winning $105,303 as a three-day champ to wrap up the week. Tom then went broke in FJ! on Nov. 4 during the ToC, making his final J! winnings $139,402.

#21: Heather Barker ("Minute to Win It")

A wedding videographer from Detroit, she first met Guy Fieri on Apr. 7, 2010 & lost the first of her three lives on Wheel of a Deal. After beating Hang Over, she lost the entire $2.5K on Nimble Thimble. Her second chance started out well on May 22nd w/ the Extra 10 Seconds being earned after Separation Anxiety, but she needed to use that w/ her last remaining life at the time to get her Extra Life & assure herself of at least $50K. She beat Layin' Track & Caddy Stack no problem & got to the quarter-million dollar mark by defeating Mag-Nutstacker w/ just one second to spare. She ultimately left as the program's last quarter-millionaire after she also Got Forked (no offense).