- 2015 National Geographic Bee champion Karan Menon, 14, of New Jersey celebrates his win with Bee moderator and award-winning journalist Soledad O’Brien at National Geographic headquarters in Washington, D.C., on May 13. Photo by Rebecca Drobis/National Geographic
Washington, May 14 (IANS) A 14-year-old Indian-American won this year’s National Geographic Bee, the contest about the geography IQ, in which the runner-up and the second runner-up are also of Indian origin.
Karan Menon, an eighth-grader from New Jersey, fought off competition from 10 finalists, to win the annual contest, joining a long list of Indian-American winners.
The win gives him $85,000 in college scholarships and a trip to the Galapagos islands.
Shriya Yarlagadda, 11, of Michigan, became the runner-up missing just one question in the entire competition, National Geographic said.
She gets $25,000 in college scholarships.
Thirteen-year-old Sojas Wagle of Arkansas came third and won $10,000 in scholarships.
This year’s competition was hosted by journalist Soledad O’Brien.
