ABERDEEN - A Brookings middle school student has captured the South Dakota Geographic Bee.

The Aberdeen American News reports that eighth-grader Mark Vanderzee from George S. Mickelson Middle School captured the title Friday at Northern State University in Aberdeen.

A hundred students from across South Dakota took part in the state-level competition to determine who will represent South Dakota in the 25th annual National Geographic Bee.

The national competition is scheduled for May 20-22 in Washington, D.C., with a $25,000 college scholarship at stake. The final round will be moderated by "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek.

National Geographic developed the National Geographic Bee in 1989 in response to concern about the lack of geographic knowledge among young people in the United States.

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