Radnor Student Wins Bid For State Geography Competition

RADNOR, PA — It was a nail biter of a competition at Radnor Middle School on Jan. 10 when 10 students put their geographic knowledge to the test for a chance to advance to a state level competition.

The annual Geographic Bee competition was held on Jan. 10.

Anthony Degregorio, Commerce Fisk, Pearce Foley, Logan French, Amelia Hilbert, Joshua Lei, Florian Strak, Jack Wible, Harry Cheong, and Matthew Townsend all competed for a chance to move on to the state level competition.

Each competitor had a chance to answer questions, similar to a spelling bee format, and two incorrect answers resulted in elimination.

In the end, Townsend, a sixth-grade student, outlasted eighth grader Cheong through several tie-breaker questions, ultimately claiming the title on a question about Benin.

Townsend is the first 6th-grader to win the school's competition since Arnav Jagasia in 2009.

Now, Townsend and other school-level champions throughout the state must take an online qualifying test by Feb. 7. The 100 highest-scoring students in Pennsylvania will advance to the state bee on March 27. Nationals will take place May 17 through May 21 in Washington, D.C. First prize at nationals includes a $50,000 college scholarship.

National Geographic will air the final round of the National Geographic Bee Championship in May.