Geographic Bee champ stunned

LEHI — The outcome of Friday's final round in the Utah section of the National Geographic Bee surprised Kevin Chen Ni.

First, he couldn't believe the answer that gave him the lead was correct. Then he was certain the defending champion would catch him on the final question.

Because Ni's answer was right and his assumption was wrong, he won a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in next month's national finals, which will be moderated by "Jeopardy" quiz show host Alex Trebek. The first prize is a $25,000 college scholarship.

An eighth-grader at Churchill Junior High School, Ni was one of 10 finalists to advance to the finals from the morning preliminary round, which included 100 students from all over Utah.

In the finals, Ni correctly answered all eight questions. Wellington's Derek Wells nailed seven answers and faced Ni in a three-question showdown for the state championship.

Both got the first question right, but Wells missed the second: "Ice sheets covered part of what is now the United States during the Pleistocene epoch, which took place during Earth's current geologic era. Name the current geologic era."

Ni's answer was Cenozoic. When the judge said he was right, Ni responded with a question of his own.

"It is?"

"I studied that in elementary school," Ni said of what proved to be the winning answer, "but I had no clue when they asked it. It just randomly came up in my mind. I didn't think it was right."

And he didn't feel confident of his one-point lead over Wells, a sixth-grader at Pinnacle Canyon Academy who won the state title last year as the youngest entrant in the bee, which is for students between the fourth and eighth grades.

Ni quickly realized he had forgotten the answer to the final question.

"I thought we would tie," Ni said. "I thought he would get the third question right."

So did Wells.

"It's a disappointment," said Wells after giving Ni tips about the Washington trip. Wells planned to soften the blow by taking his $75 second prize and going on a shopping spree for "electronics" — Game Boy and PlayStation 2 games.