Cedar Hill Prep Student Named National Geography Bee Champion

Somerset, NJ — A Cedar Hill Preparatory School student is heading home from the national stage with hardware — a lot of it.

Vallabh Vijayaraj, a student at the Preschool to 8 International Baccalaureate Candidate school in Somerset, was named National Champion at the US Geography Bee 2026 on May 21. Three days later, he returned to competition and earned Third Place at the National Geography Bee on May 24.



The wins capped a season that also included a Gold Medal on the Asian Geography Exam, a Bronze Medal on the American Geography Exam, a Sixth Place finish in the US Geography Championship Exam, and a Semi-Finalist result at the National Academic Bee.

Vallabh also competed as part of a two-student team with classmate Aaryan Shah, finishing Third in the National Geography Bowl.

Off the map and into diplomacy, Vallabh earned a Distinguished Delegate honor in the Introduction to Model United Nations program, where he represented South Africa before the World Health Organization in a committee on pandemic prevention.

Cedar Hill Preparatory School is located at 152 Cedar Grove Lane in Somerset and serves students from Preschool through Grade 8.