After a one-year hiatus, Geography Bowl returned for its 24th edition on Friday, May 11th. The jeopardy style event was hosted by UW-Parkside under the direction of Prof. Richard Walasek.

Which two U.S. states are the farthest distance apart? Name 3 countries in Europe that begin with the letter S. What country lies directly north of Burundi? What is albedo?

It was Carter Dybing’s lightening quick response to the latter question, as time literally ran out, that gave Wilmot’s junior team a shot at a bonus question to potentially win the Geography Bowl championship. Team captain MacKenzie Eiland (fittingly pronounced island) then answered that the District of Columbia was the smallest among a series that included Rhode Island, Guam, and Puerto Rico after conferring with her teammates (Paul Swartz, Nick DeCaro, and Dybing) to secure the championship.

On the way to the finals the junior team compiled a 10-3 record in round-robin play and ultimately was able to avenge an earlier loss to the Prairie School in the final match. Justin White was also a member of the championship team.

Besides the ending itself, another moment stood out during the finals, and again it included Dybing. Carter wowed the audience in the middle of the round and received thunderous applause when he answered that there were exactly 6,076
POINT 115 feet in a nautical mile.

If the junior championship was exciting, the sophomore championship was anything but. Wilmot’s sophomores dominated in round-robin play compiling a 12-1 record to advance to the finals to face Union Grove’s sophomores. The Panthers tallied
a 205-point to 50-point victory to secure the win. The team displayed the most balanced attack of any team in the Bowl, with all four members contributing solidly throughout the day. Captain Neil Driscoll along with Arie Deeter, Matt Finzel, and Caitlin Griffin will also have the opportunity to defend their title next year as juniors.

For their efforts each team received an appropriate globe-shaped trophy to commemorate their victory and every team member received a blue ribbon and a choice between either a North American road atlas or a hardy Duracell flashlight.

Wilmot also had a second sophomore team that competed well at the event. The roster included captain Alicia Dale, Abbey Chappell, Savannah Rivers, and Tara Steffen.

Wilmot’s string of excellence continues:

In its 24 years of existence, only one school has been able to win the junior and sophomore championships simultaneously at Geography Bowl. That school is Wilmot and the Panthers have achieved that feat an amazing four times in a row and counting!

In case you were wondering, Carter is a sophomore, and sophomores are allowed to play on junior teams. AND…It’s Florida and Alaska; Spain, Slovenia, Slovakia, San Marino, Switzerland, and/or Sweden; Rwanda; and finally albedo is the “the amount of light reflected off a surface.”

Random quotes:

Matt Finzel’s take on Geography Bowl was, “it’s really fun and I want to go back and do it again today.”

MacKenzie Eiland, a former Central student, remarked, “beating Central was very gratifying!”

Almost all the students commented about how they enjoyed the competitiveness and pressure of the event.