Ten Students Advance to National Geographic Bee Finals

Jennifer Vernon
for National Geographic News

May 25, 2004

Winners from the National Geographic Bee state-level competitions held
this past April gathered in Washington, D.C., today to compete for a
total of U.S. $50,000 in scholarships at the 16th annual National
Geographic Bee finals.

Ranging in age from 10 to 15, these fifth through eighth graders demonstrated their knowledge of world politics, cultures, history, and geography, advancing from among five million participants to this year's finals.

The first round of competition, held earlier today at the District of Columbia's downtown Wyndham City hotel, culled 55 state, territory, and Department of Defense Dependent School winners down to 10 finalists. The finalists each won U.S. $500 and a spot in tomorrow's championship round. They are:

Eric Liaw, Hawaii
Yangbo Du, Illinois
Mattias Gassman, Iowa
Andrew Wojtanik, Kansas
Thimal de Alwis, Louisiana
Matthew Wells, Montana
Gautham Senthilkumar, Ohio
Christopher Chesny, Oklahoma
Cory Sweers, Washington State
Bo Sun, Wisconsin

(For more details on the finalists, see below.)

The championship round will kick off tomorrow at 10 a.m. at National Geographic Society headquarters and will once again be moderated by Jeopardy! quiz show host Alex Trebek.

Produced in partnership with Maryland Public Television, the championship round will be televised by the National Geographic Channel in the United States and aired later on public television channels around the country.

For the first-place winner, National Geographic will award a U.S. $25,000 scholarship and a lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society. Second-year corporate sponsor ING will provide the winner with a one-week trip to a Sea World/Busch Gardens Adventure Camp. The second-place and third-place winners will receive scholarships worth U.S. $15,000 and $10,000, respectively, from National Geographic.

Last year's champion, eighth grader James Williams from Washington state, clinched his victory with the correct answer to the following question: Goa, a state in southwestern India, was a possession of which country until 1961? (Answer: Portugal.)

2004 National Geographic Bee
Top Ten Finalists

Eric Liaw, Hawaii
Eric is a 12-year-old sixth grader at Punahou Junior High School in Honolulu. He represented Hawaii in the 2003 National Geographic Bee. Eric plays the piano, violin, and trumpet and likes tennis and karate. If he could be anyone in the world, the sixth grader says he'd like to be oceanographer and explorer Robert Ballard.

Yangbo Du, Illinois
Yangbo is a 14-year-old eighth grader at Dunlap Middle School in Dunlap, central Illinois. He's been interested in geography since he was three, and enjoys its physical and economic aspects. Yangbo says the best place he's visited is San Francisco, California, and notes that he would like to visit Europe's historic sites.

Mattias Gassman, Iowa
Mattias is a homeschooled 14-year-old eighth grader from Ames. He enjoys reading, bike riding, swimming, and playing computer and board games. Mattias says the best place he's been is London, England, and that he'd like to visit Italy and Crete to see their ancient ruins. His interest in geography began when he was six.

Andrew Wojtanik, Kansas
Andrew is a 14-year-old eighth grader at Lakewood Middle School in Overland Park, south of Kansas City. He represented Kansas in the 2003 National Geographic Bee. Andrew enjoys track, baseball, and golf and says he admires professional golfer Tiger Woods. Andrew would like to visit all 55 United States national parks.

Thimal de Alwis, Louisiana
Thimal is a 13-year-old eighth grader at SLU Lab School in Hammond, east of Baton Rouge. He plays soccer, likes sports cars, and has traveled a lot. Thimal says the best place he's visited is Athens, where he saw Greek temples. On Thimal's travel wish-list: New Zealand, home to beautiful landscapes.

Matthew Wells, Montana
Matthew is a 13-year-old eighth grader at Headwaters Academy in Bozeman. He enjoys indoor and outdoor rock climbing and placed tenth in a national climbing competition. Other interests include skiing, drawing, and reading. Matthew says the best place he's been in Germany and that he'd like to visit Turkey.

Gautham Senthilkumar, Ohio
Gautham is a 13-year-old eighth grader at Bowling Green Junior High School in Bowling Green. He enjoys reading about history and nature and hopes to become a biologist. Gautham says the best place he has visited is Washington State and that he'd like to visit Japan. The eighth grader says he admires people who protect the environment.

Christopher Chesney, Oklahoma
Christopher is a 14-year-old eighth grader at Will Rogers Junior High School in Claremore, near Tulsa. He represented Oklahoma in the 2003 National Geographic Bee. Christopher captained his academic-bowl team this year, placing second in the conference. The eighth grader enjoys playing soccer and says he'd like to visit Greece.

Cory Sweers, Washington State
Cory is a homeschooled 13-year-old eighth grader from Auburn, south of Seattle. His interests include sailing, model design, playing the piano, and reading, The best place he's visited is Mount St. Helens, where he hiked Spirit Lake. He hopes to enter the United States Military Academy at West Point, New York.

Bo Sun

Bo is a 14-year-old eighth grader at Ladysmith Middle School in Ladysmith, northwest Wisconsin. He represented Montana in the 2003 National Geographic Bee. He enjoys playing the clarinet. Bo hopes to use geography to understand other peoples' ways of thinking.