Students qualify for geo bees

Kalispell Middle School’s Griffin Ingersoll was named the sixth-grade Montana Geography Bee champion Sunday at the University of Montana.

Kalispell Middle School sixth-grader Oliver Casey placed third. In the seventh-grade division, Whitefish Middle School student David Lossee was the state runner up.

The students qualify to compete at national and international competitions organized by International Academic Competitions. Finalists also qualifying to compete at both levels are, in the sixth-grade division, Szonja Czinner and Ty Vandervelden; in the seventh-grade division, Mac Colley and Spencer Lee; and in the eighth-grade division, Mitchell Johnson and Sam Syverson.

They were among 41 competitors, which was narrowed down from 1,500 Montana students who took qualifying exams, according to a press release.

At state, students competed in four preliminary rounds where up to 30 questions related to world geography were asked in a game show style format.

Kalispell Montessori Elementary also competed.

Two national competitions, one of which focuses on U.S. geography, are scheduled June 17-20 in Orlando, Florida. The International Geography Bee Championships is set for July 3-10 in Burlington, Vermont, and Montreal, Canada.