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26th National Geographic Bee

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The 26th National Geographic Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 21, 2014, sponsored by the National Geographic Society. Soledad O'Brien hosted this event for the first time, replacing Alex Trebek.

26th National Geographic Bee
DateMay 19–21, 2014
LocationWashington, D.C.
WinnerAkhil Rekulapelli
Age13
ResidenceDulles, Virginia
No. of contestants54
Preceded by25th National Geographic Bee
Followed by27th National Geographic Bee

Eighth-grader Akhil Rekulapelli, from Loudoun County, Virginia, won the competition, beating out 52 other competitors representing the 50 U.S. states, Pacific territories, and Department of Defense dependent schools.[1]

In 2014, a record number of 9 perfect scores in the national preliminary competition was recorded. As a result, a sudden-death tiebreaker took place between 8 state representatives including contestants from Alabama, Utah, Texas, Maryland, Virginia, Illinois and Washington.[citation needed]

Akhil Rekulapelli, the 2014 National Geographic Bee Champion, received a $50,000 scholarship, a lifetime membership to the National Geographic Society, and a trip for 2 to the Galapagos Islands. Ameya Mujumdar, the second-place finisher received $25,000. Tuvya Bergson-Michelson, the third-place finisher received $10,000,[1] and Pranit Nanda, the fourth-place finisher, received $1,000. Other top ten finishers received $500.[citation needed]

2014 state representatives

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State Name School City/Town Grade Place
Alabama Christian Gonzalez Huntsville Area Home Educators Harvest 8th
Alaska J. Gray Harver Kodiak Middle School Kodiak 8th
Arizona Ari Mehta Desert Cove E.S. Phoenix 6th
Arkansas Christian Boekhout Hot Springs Intermediate School Hot Springs 8th
Puerto Rico United States Virgin Islands Atlantic Territories Jael King Alfredo Andrews School St. Croix 6th
California Tuvya Bergson-Michelson The Nueva School San Carlos 7th 3rd Place
Colorado Pranit Nanda Aurora Quest K-8 Aurora 8th 4th Place
Connecticut Jimena Phipps Middlesex Middle School Darien 6th
Delaware Sohan Shah The Independence School Newark 8th
Department of Defense Patrick Lewallen Ryukyu Middle School Japan 8th
District of Columbia Quentin Powers St. Anselm's Abbey School District of Columbia 8th
Florida Ameya Mujumdar Turner Elementary School Tampa 5th 2nd Place
Georgia Ansel Ahabue Trickum Middle School Lilburn 8th 8th Place (tie)
Hawaii Mika Ishii Kaimuki Middle School Honolulu 6th
Idaho Amrit Singh Grangeville Elementary/Middle School Grangeville 8th
Illinois Mantra Dave Chiddix Jr. High School Normal 6th
Indiana Sean Ives Trinity Lutheran School Crown Point 8th
Iowa Shirlin Kingston Ames Homeschool Assistance Program Ames 5th
Kansas Chinmay Patil California Trail Middle School Olathe 6th
Kentucky Nikhil Krishna Corbin Middle School Corbin 8th
Louisiana Benjamin Link St. Andrew's Episcopal School New Orleans 8th
Maine Vincent Falardeau Saco Middle School Saco 8th
Maryland Abhinav Karthikeyan Clearspring Elementary School Damascus 5th
Massachusetts Nicholas Rommel Diamond Middle School Lexington 7th 8th Place (tie)
Michigan Philip Huang Washtenaw County Home Educators Ann Arbor 8th
Minnesota Lucas Eggers Hennepin County Homeschool Eden Prairie 6th
Mississippi Victoria Gong St. Aloysius Vicksburg 7th
Missouri Evan Hensel Wentzville Middle School Wentzville 8th
Montana Jesse Zhang Target Range School Missoula 8th
Nebraska Brendan Pennington Prairie Lane Elementary School Omaha 5th
Nevada Benjamin Hand Hyde Park Middle School Las Vegas 8th
New Hampshire Kevin Owens Ross A. Lurgio Middle School Bedford 7th
New Jersey Charles Mills Trinity Christian School Montville 7th
New Mexico Gabriel Cuneo Shepherd Lutheran Albuquerque 8th
New York Gabriel Straus Collegiate School for Boys Manhattan 8th
North Carolina Sravya Kuchibhotla Davis Drive Middle School Cary 7th
North Dakota Erik Johnson Bismarck Mandan Home Educators Bismarck 8th
Ohio Kyle Yu Lee Burneson Middle School Westlake 8th 6th Place
Oklahoma Aniket Dehardrai Whittier Middle School Norman 8th
Oregon Tor Parsons Roosevelt Middle School Eugene 7th
American Samoa Guam Northern Mariana Islands Pacific Territories Alex Eagan Pacific Horizons School Pago Pago 6th
Pennsylvania Ramya Muthukrishnan E.N. Pierce Middle School West Chester 8th
Rhode Island Maxwell Levine Wheeler School Providence 8th 8th Place (tie)
South Carolina Krish Patel Pinewood Preparatory School Summerville 8th 5th Place
South Dakota Bridger Gordon Sturgis Williams Middle School Sturgis 8th
Tennessee Christopher Damon Meigs Middle Magnet School Nashville 8th
Texas Benjamin Benjadol Central Junior High School Euless 7th
Utah Gauri Garg Bear River Charter School Logan 7th
Vermont Nicholas Norton Essex Middle School Essex Junction 8th
Virginia Akhil Rekulapelli Stone Hill Middle School Ashburn 8th 2014 National Champion
Washington Andrew Ma The Evergreen School Shoreline 8th
West Virginia Andrew Christy St. Francis Central Catholic School Morgantown 8th
Wisconsin Asha Jain MHLT Elementary School Minocqua 8th 7th Place
Wyoming Degory Day Aspen Elementary School Evanston 5th

References

[edit]
  1. ^ a b Dan Stone (May 21, 2014). "Meet the 2014 National Geographic Bee Champion". National Geographic News. Archived from the original on February 25, 2015.