The US Geography Olympiad held its 2015 National Championships on Friday, April 24 at the Crystal Gateway Marriott in Arlington, VA. Over 180 students competed (a 25% increase from the previous year) and after 4 rounds of quiz bowl competition and 2 challenging exams, our champions were:
Varsity – Kevin Li of Westview High School (San Diego, CA)
Junior Varsity – Karan Menon of John Adams Middle School (Edison, NJ)
The competition also determined the four students from the Varsity Division who will constitute the 2015 Team USA which will attend the International Geography Olympiad (aka iGeo) in Tver, Russia this summer:
1. Kevin Li, Westview High School, San Diego, CA – Overall Champion
2. James Mullen, Monta Vista High School, Cupertino, CA – Exam A Champion
3. Abhinav Kurada, AMSA, Marlborough, MA – Exam B Champion
4. Rohan Kodialam, High Tech High School, Lincroft, NJ – Quiz Bowl Tournament Champion
Congratulations, and we hope that you will represent the USA well, especially with 2014 International Geography Olympiad World Champion James Mullen back on the team for a second year!
In the Junior Varsity, Alex Schmidt of Lehigh Valley Academy (Bethlehem, PA) was the Quiz Bowl Tournament Champion while Karan Menon was the Exam Champion for both exams. It should be noted that Karan is the first middle school-aged champion of the Junior Varsity Division, and that his score of 147 on Exam A was by far the top exam score of any student on either exam in either division!
Thanks to our sponsor Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, and to everyone who came and competed, staffed, and helped us organize the competition. We’ll be in touch with Team USA to organize training session in advance of iGeo, and look to see you all again in the 2015-16 school year!
