MADISON - Ellie Erb, an eighth grader at Monroe Middle School, won 12th place at the Wisconsin state-level qualifier of the National Geographic Bee held March 30 in Madison, and she was the top female finisher in the bee.
Vansh Jain of Minoqua was the state champion and now goes to the National Geographic Bee hosted by Alex Trebek in Washington, D.C. Jain has won two previous state bees and finished fourth and sixth at nationals.
The state championship finals, held this year at the American Family training center, were highly competitive. Of the 100 total competitors, the 10 state finalists withstood 13 tie-breaking rounds to determine the champion.
Erb, daughter of Wendy and Bob Erb, Monroe, was among 17 of the 100 students who went through eight preliminary rounds with a perfect score.
All 100 state qualifying students answer the preliminary round questions, with the 10 top-scoring students qualifying for the finals. Usually, fewer than 10 students answer all eight questions correctly, and a tiebreaker is held among those students.
This year, however, the 17 perfect-scoring finalists advanced to the tiebreaker round, which was closed to the public and parents, for what would essentially be elimination rounds to determine the 10 to move on to the state finals. In the tiebreaker rounds, all students receive the same question in each round and submit written answers individually.
Erb made it to the fourth tiebreaker round before dropping out on a wrong answer.
She advanced to the state level first by winning her eighth-grade level geography bee at Monroe Middle School and then by winning the all-school bee of the grade-level champions, the top three finishers in the sixth through eighth grades.
She then qualified for one of the 100 spots available in the state bee by taking a written exam from National Geographic. Only the top 100 scores on the written exams of all champions throughout the public and private schools in the state, in grades five through eight, qualify for state.
Ellie's sister, Avery, now a junior at Monroe High School, competed in the state geography bee in 2007 and 2009.
The bee is sponsored by National Geographic, along with Google and Plum Creek Timber Company of Seattle.
Vansh Jain of Minoqua was the state champion and now goes to the National Geographic Bee hosted by Alex Trebek in Washington, D.C. Jain has won two previous state bees and finished fourth and sixth at nationals.
The state championship finals, held this year at the American Family training center, were highly competitive. Of the 100 total competitors, the 10 state finalists withstood 13 tie-breaking rounds to determine the champion.
Erb, daughter of Wendy and Bob Erb, Monroe, was among 17 of the 100 students who went through eight preliminary rounds with a perfect score.
All 100 state qualifying students answer the preliminary round questions, with the 10 top-scoring students qualifying for the finals. Usually, fewer than 10 students answer all eight questions correctly, and a tiebreaker is held among those students.
This year, however, the 17 perfect-scoring finalists advanced to the tiebreaker round, which was closed to the public and parents, for what would essentially be elimination rounds to determine the 10 to move on to the state finals. In the tiebreaker rounds, all students receive the same question in each round and submit written answers individually.
Erb made it to the fourth tiebreaker round before dropping out on a wrong answer.
She advanced to the state level first by winning her eighth-grade level geography bee at Monroe Middle School and then by winning the all-school bee of the grade-level champions, the top three finishers in the sixth through eighth grades.
She then qualified for one of the 100 spots available in the state bee by taking a written exam from National Geographic. Only the top 100 scores on the written exams of all champions throughout the public and private schools in the state, in grades five through eight, qualify for state.
Ellie's sister, Avery, now a junior at Monroe High School, competed in the state geography bee in 2007 and 2009.
The bee is sponsored by National Geographic, along with Google and Plum Creek Timber Company of Seattle.