30th National Geographic Bee


The 30th annual National Geographic Bee was held in Washington, D.C. and was hosted by Mo Rocca. It is sponsored by the National Geographic Society. The State Bees were held on April 6, where the 54 finalists were determined. The 2018 National Geographic Bee champion was Venkat Ranjan of California.

State Bees

On April 6, 2018, the National Geographic State Bees were held across the 50 states, Washington, D.C., the Atlantic Territories, the Pacific Territories, and the Department of Defense. Fifty-four State or Territory level Champions were determined. In 2018, the prize for winning the state bee has been raised, as $200 is now given to the winner instead of $100, the old prize. The winners have also received a National Geographic Visual Atlas of the World, Second Edition. Second and third place winners received $150 and $100, respectively. The state preliminary rounds consisted of rounds about U.S. geography, international geography,, national birds, protecting the environment, Weird but True, and a “GeoChallenge”. The GeoChallenge was a True/False round where a statement would be made about a U.S. state’s population, GDP, or size, comparing it to another country, and the student would have to say if it was True or False. For example, one question was “Virginia has a higher GDP than Portugal, True or False?”-the answer is true. All 54 regional champions received an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, D.C. to compete at the national competition from May 20-23.
StateNameSchoolCity/TownGradePlace
Christian MartinEchols Middle SchoolNorthport8thT-30th
Riley GrossOcean View Elementary SchoolAnchorage6thT-45th
Gayatri KaimalBASIS Tucson North SchoolTucson7thT-4th
Wesley BonnerLake Hamilton Junior High SchoolHot Springs8thT-34th
Atlantic TerritoriesDiego CuretSt. John’s SchoolSan Juan8thT-53rd
Venkat RanjanWindemere Ranch Middle SchoolSan Ramon8th1st
Garrett FleischmannStargate Middle SchoolThornton7thT-22nd
James LeoneMiddlesex Middle SchoolDarien8thT-17th
Jeremiah RaybanCab Calloway School of the ArtsWilmington7thT-24th
Department of DefenseAlex DanielsSeoul Am Middle SchoolSeoul, South Korea7thT-12th
Max GaronSidwell Friends Middle SchoolWashington8thT-12th
Kaylan PatelWindermere Preparatory SchoolWindermere6thT-17th
Vishal SareddyRiverwatch Middle SchoolSuwanee8th3rd
William ChenAikahi ElementaryKailua6thT-38th
Vincent GiordanoLowell Scott Middle SchoolBoise8thT-42nd
Ty JonesCrestwood SchoolParis8thT-38th
Jonathon ElliottGriffith Middle SchoolGriffith7thT-30th
Kavya KalathurPleasant Valley Junior High SchoolLeClaire8thT-17th
Wyatt BoydHocker Grove Middle SchoolShawnee7thT-24th
Case W. GrillotHighlands Middle SchoolFort Thomas8thT-24th
Andrew MinagarCaddo Middle SchoolShreveport7thT-34th
Colin AponteHancock Co. Area HomeschoolersBlue Hill8thT-42nd
Alan ZhangMount View Middle SchoolMarriottsville8thT-45th
Atreya MallannaJoseph Estabrook Elementary SchoolLexington5th7th
Paarth SharmaMoorsbridge Elementary SchoolPortage5thT-12th
Nicholas PetersonSt. John Baptist SchoolNew Brighton8thT-24th
Jacob HollandLong Beach Middle SchoolLong Beach8thT-38th
Jackson CooperChrist The King SchoolUniversity City7thT-45th
Caleb MarkYellowstone County Home EducatorsBillings8thT-53rd
Quentin BauerCentral Middle SchoolOmaha7thT-45th
Emmanuel Gayton-VargasCarson Valley Middle SchoolGardnerville7thT-45th
Sean ChengCooperative Middle SchoolStratham8th10th
Anoushka BuddhikotBridgewater-Raritan Middle SchoolBridgewater8th2nd
Lakshay SoodAlbuquerque AcademyAlbuquerque7thT-12th
Nicholas SarrisWest Hollow Middle SchoolMelville8thT-45th
Jonathan SongSalem Middle SchoolApex8th6th
Krishna KamalakannanDiscovery Middle SchoolFargo8th11th
Saket PochirajuOrange Middle SchoolLewis Center8thT-8th
Dyllon WheelerEpic Charter SchoolsOklahoma City8thT-45th
Ashwin SivakumarOregon Episcopal SchoolPortland8thT-4th
Pacific TerritoriesNapu Mesa BlasLuis P. Untalan Middle SchoolBarrigada7thT-34th
Arnab SircarCharles F Patton Middle SchoolKennett Square8thT-17th
Maximus TerraAlan Shawn Feinstein Middle SchoolCoventry8thT-38th
Sam HenshawMoultrie Middle SchoolMt. Pleasant7thT-22nd
Owen FinkBridgewater-Emery SchoolBridgewater7thT-34th
Aditya NarayananRiverdale Elementary SchoolGermantown6thT-30th
Nihar JangaCanyon Ridge Middle SchoolAustin7thT-8th
Felix KeilSalt Lake Arts AcademySalt Lake City8thT-17th
Mary FowlerEastern Vermont HomeschoolerHartland7thT-45th
Caleb HinesAshburn HomeschoolersAshburn8thT-24th
Ihsan LisharSpiritridge Elementary SchoolBellevue5thT-42nd
Joss PoteetWildwood Middle SchoolShenandoah Junction7thT-24th
Hansen JinKromrey Middle SchoolMiddleton8th16th
Preston BuehlerStar Valley Middle SchoolAfton8thT-30th

Preliminary Rounds

The 54 state champions competed in the preliminary rounds held from May 21-22, 2018. This part of the contest consisted of 10 oral rounds as well as a written portion.
The top 10 contestants with the highest scores in the preliminary rounds competed in the final round, which was held on May 23, 2018. Venkat Ranjan from California was the champion, with Anoushka Buddhikot from New Jersey coming 2nd, and Vishal Sareddy from Georgia placing third.
NameStatePreliminary Round ScoresFinal Placing
Sean Cheng19/20 10th
Gayatri Kaimal18/20 4th
Venkat Ranjan18/20 1st
Atreya Mallanna18/20 7th
Anoushka Buddhikot18/20 2nd
Jonathan Song18/20 6th
Saket Pochiraju18/20 8th
Vishal Sareddy17/20 3rd
Ashwin Sivakumar17/20 4th
Nihar Janga17/20 8th