Will Schneider, a software programmer from Asheville, was cooking dinner recently when his local TV station, WLOS of Asheville, reported someone had purchased a winning ticket for the July 30 Powerball drawing at the Citistop on Haywood Road.

“Well, that would be cool,” Schneider remembers thinking to himself. “That’s where I bought my ticket.”

So when the cooking was done, Schneider checked his Powerball ticket and found out how cool it was. His ticket had matched all five white balls, a match that beat one in five million odds and made him a $200,000 winner.

“It was surreal,” Schneider said as he received his prize on Friday. “I had hoped for three and the Powerball. I’d take anything. But I didn’t think $200,000.That’s all right. It will help put some girls through college.”

After taxes were withheld, Schneider received $136,000.

In Saturday’s Powerball drawing, a $10,000 winning ticket was sold in Catawba County at the Kangeroo Express on Conover Boulevard in Conover. The ticket matched four of the five white balls and the Power Ball in the drawing. The winner has 180 days to claim the prize. Since no one matched all six numbers, the jackpot continued to roll. For Wednesday’s drawing, the jackpot is an estimated $47 million or $28.1 million if taken as a lump sum.

Since the lottery launched through June 30, 2010, Buncombe County players have won more than $113.8 million in prizes and Buncombe County retailers have earned more than $6.1 million in commissions on ticket sales. During the same time frame, Buncombe County education programs have received more than $23.9 million in lottery funds. By law, lottery funds benefit teacher salaries, school construction, need-based college scholarships, and prekindergarten programs. To date, the N.C. Education Lottery has provided more than $2 billion for the education initiatives it serves statewide.