Shaky bladder control and nerves each played roles in determining the winner of this year’s Colorado Geographic Bee on Friday at the University of Denver.
Ultimately, the champ was Alden Savoca, a home-schooled 14-year- old from De Beque, in Mesa County. He missed only one question in the tournament finals.
“He missed the top-10 (finals) last year by one question,” said his father, Dan. “He’s been studying every night since then.”
In Colorado, 102 students in grades five through eight qualified for the tournament by winning geography bees in their schools and scoring high on a quiz from National Geographic, which sponsors the national contest.
Miranda Schene, a seventh-grader from Colorado Virtual Academy in Denver, said she, with prodding from her parents, studied maps and atlases every night.
“It’s been annoying, but I think it helped,” said Miranda, who was eliminated in the preliminary round Friday morning.
Ten boys qualified for the finals Friday afternoon. They were eliminated when they missed two questions.
Benjamin T. Schneiderman, a seventh-grader at Timberview Middle School in Colorado Springs, was hyperventilating after each question, often giving at the very last moment correct answers with a pained expression on his face and in a barely audible voice. He finished third.
It was a close call for Jared Lee, a student at Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado Springs, after he missed a question early in the finals.
“I couldn’t concentrate because he wouldn’t let me go to the restroom,” Jared said of moderator Michael Daniels, an associate professor of geography at DU.
But Jared didn’t miss another question until the last — and deciding — one in the championship round against Alden.
The question: Chiba and Nagoya, two of the largest ports in the world in terms of tonnage, are located in which country?
Jared’s answer was China. Alden answered correctly: Japan.
Savoca’s four brothers and sisters joined him on the stage in celebration.
The eighth-grader will go to Washington, D.C., to compete in the National Geographic Bee, beginning May 19.
The bee winner gets a $25,000 college scholarship.
Alden, who plays mandolin, guitar and banjo, hopes to become a Constitution lawyer.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com
