MInneapolis 7th-grader knows his way around a globe

Could you name the long, narrow Asian country where the city of Da Nang is located?

One Minneapolis seventh-grader could, and because of that, he'll be traveling to Washington, D.C., next month to compete at the National Geographic Bee.

In front of a full auditorium Friday at Macalester College, 10 students faced off in the final round of the state competition. Cody DuBois, from Emerson Spanish Immersion Learning Center, took home the title.

The students, in fourth through eighth grades, answered every question correctly in the first few rounds.

In one round, each student was handed a photo of a city's skyline and asked to identify it. DuBois walked to the microphone, glanced at his photo and smiled. He instantly recognized the image: Rio de Janeiro.

DuBois said he prepared for the competition by taking National Geographic quizzes online.

Another round, in which students used a map to identify U.S. cities near agricultural areas, proved more difficult.

Apekshya Panda, a sixth-grader from West Middle School in Wayzata, was one of two finalists to answer correctly in that round. She later went on to compete against DuBois in the championship round, when they each had to answer the same three questions.

Only DuBois answered correctly on the final question though.

Da Nang is in Vietnam.

But Panda's second-place ranking in the state was a big day for girls and geography. She was one of two girls among the 10 finalists. Last year, only one girl made it to the finals.

"There tends to be low interest in geography among young girls," said Stephanie Forsland, a media assistant for the bee.

Out of the 100 or so students who came to Macalester on Friday to participate in the preliminary rounds, only 10 were girls.

And despite also being a small population among the students in the competition, a fourth-grader placed third in the state. Aditya Ronanki, from Shannon Park Elementary School in Rosemount, was one of only three fourth-graders at the competition.

Students qualified for the state competition by winning at the school level and having the highest scores on a qualifying test.

The top three students in the state received globes and cash prizes from $100 to $75.

Winners in each state receive a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete at the national level, where the first-place winner receives a $25,000 college scholarship.

Emily Banks is a University of Minnesota student reporter on assignment for the Star Tribune.