Pa. student has appetite for competition

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NEW YORK, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- A student at Pennsylvania's Slippery Rock University, after only a few weeks of competitive eating, has shown he can chow down with the best.

Chip Simpson, a physical therapy student at the school in western Pennsylvania, placed third this week at the annual GoldenPalace.com Thanksgiving Invitational turkey-eating contest in New York.

Sonya Thomas of Alexandria, Va., the champion, was the only contestant able to finish the job of downing a 10-pound turkey in 12 minutes. Joey Chestnut of San Jose, Calif., placed second.

"I stumbled a little bit," Simpson told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. "Sonya and Joey are the two- and three-ranked eaters in the world. Just placing in the top three with them is an honor."

Simpson began by entering eating contests near the Slippery Rock campus and discovered he has talent. In the past six weeks, he has been in five contests -- two involving hamburgers, two wings and the turkey contest.