The winning team consisted of students Sam Lewis, who is majoring in Geography, and Tania Vitales-Kadlec, who is majoring in Early Childhood.
Can you name what U.S. national park was established in 1872? If you answered Yellowstone, you could have been a contender at Wayne State College’s 13th annual Geography Bowl held Nov. 7 on campus.
The Cart(ography) Heads defeated Hazard & Disaster 18-7 in the finals of the event that featured a quiz bowl format. Cart(ography) Heads team members were Sam Lewis, a geography major from Kearney, and Tania Vitales-Kadlec, an early childhood major from Norfolk. Hazard & Disaster team members were Nate Fletcher, a geography major from Yutan, and Madalyn Johansen, a geography major from Osceola.
The Cart(ography) Heads won this year’s bragging rights as well as $50 gift cards from Godfather’s Pizza. Eight two-student teams competed in the event, while more than 100 students were in attendance.
“Competition is intense during this 90-minute event of humor and enlightenment,” said Dr. Lesli Rawlings, a professor of geography at Wayne State who started the Geography Bowl in 2011. “It’s a great opportunity for students to have some fun as the semester starts to wind down.”
In the themed costumes competition, the Corn Trotters team of Dalton Hansen, a social studies education major from Lincoln, and Ryan Thompson, a social studies education major from Papillion, were voted by the audience as Best in Show and received National Geographic world atlases.
The Geography Bowl features teams of Wayne State undergraduate students answering questions on topics of global consequence. Subjects ranged from the physical properties of Earth to cultural impacts on the environment.
Sponsored by Gamma Theta Upsilon, Wayne State’s geography honor society, the Geography Bowl is held each year to honor Geography Awareness Week, which is Nov. 18-22 this year. This nationally recognized week raises awareness of geography as a discipline and as part of daily life.
For more information about the Geography Bowl, contact Dr. Lesli Rawlings, professor of geography at Wayne State, at [email protected].