On Friday, March 31, more than 4,600 students competed across the United States and territories in National Geographic State Bees. Each State Bee Champion received $100, National Geographic Concise Atlas of the World, 4th Edition and a trip to Washington, D.C., to represent their state in the National Geographic Bee Championship to be held at National Geographic Society headquarters, May 14-17, 2017. Eighteen students are returning to the National Geographic Bee Championship from previous years. For more information on the National Geographic Bee, visit bit.ly/NatGeoBeePress.

2017 National Geographic State Bee Champions:

ALABAMA- Jason DiRusso, 8th Grade, Louis Pizitz Middle School, Birmingham

ALASKA- Andres Arias, 8th Grade, Nicholas J Begich Middle School, Anchorage

ARKANSAS- Denis Carranza, 7th Grade, Elmwood Middle School, Rogers

ARIZONA- Aditya Narayanan, 5th Grade, Sonoran Sky Elementary School, Scottsdale

CALIFORNIA- Ahilan Eraniyan, 6th Grade, Diablo Vista Middle School, Danville

COLORADO- Henry Halgren, 6th Grade, Liberty Common High School, Fort Collins

CONNECTICUT- William Foster, 8th Grade, Independent Day School, Middlefield

DELAWARE- Rohan Kanchana, 8th Grade, Newark Charter School, Newark

WASHINGTON, D.C.- Max Garon, 7th Grade, Sidwell Friends Middle School, Washington

FLORIDA- Jacob Silver, 6th Grade, Cypress Lake Middle School, Fort Myers

GEORGIA- Vishal Sareddy, 7th Grade, Riverwatch Middle School, Suwanee

HAWAII- Logan Kakugawa, 8th Grade, Hawaii Baptist Academy, Honolulu

IDAHO- Nicholas Monahan, 8th Grade, Payette Lakes Middle School, McCall

ILLINOIS- Sahan Sai Yalavarthi, 7th Grade, Twin Groves Middle School, Buffalo Grove

INDIANA- Dylan Schutte, 8th Grade, Sunman-Dearborn Middle School, Brookville

IOWA- Grant Pedersen, 7th Grade, Cardinal Middle High School, Eldon

KANSAS- Sathvik Kasarabada, 7th Grade, California Trail Middle School, Olathe

KENTUCKY- Evan Winkler, 8th Grade, Morton Middle School, Lexington

LOUISIANA- Isaac Jabaley, 6th Grade, Lusher Charter School, New Orleans

MAINE- Joseph Luchsinger, 7th Grade, Berwick Academy, South Berwick

MARYLAND- Nabhoneel Sil Upadhyay, 8th Grade, Kingsview Middle School, Germantown

MASSACHUSETTS- Theodore Z Batty, 6th Grade, Jenkins Elementary School, Scituate

MICHIGAN- Peter Deegan-Krause, 6th Grade, Ferndale Middle School, Ferndale

MINNESOTA- Lucas Eggers, 8th Grade, STAR Homeschool Academy, Minneapolis

MISSISSIPPI- Edmund Doerksen, 8th Grade, Oxford Middle School, Oxford

MISSOURI- Rohan K. Rao, 7th Grade, Ann Hawkins Gentry Middle School, Columbia

MONTANA- Ian Williams, 8th Grade, Sussex School, Missoula

NEBRASKA- Brendan Pennington, 8th Grade, Westside Middle School, Omaha

NEVADA- Maia Marshall, 8th Grade, St Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School, Las Vegas

NEW HAMPSHIRE- Abhinav S. Govindaraju, 7th Grade, Ross A Lurgio Middle School, Bedford

NEW JERSEY- Veda Bhattaram, 7th Grade, Robert R Lazar Middle School, Montville

NEW MEXICO- Lakshay Sood, 6th Grade, Albuquerque Academy, Albuquerque

NEW YORK- Tayler Anderson, 7th Grade, Nyack Middle School, Nyack

NORTH CAROLINA- Max Dyer, 6th Grade, Phoenix Academy, High Point

NORTH DAKOTA- Krishna Kamalakannan, 7th Grade, Discovery Middle School, Fargo

OHIO- Saket Pochiraju, 7th Grade, Orange Middle School, Lewis Center

OKLAHOMA- Antonino Libarnes, 5th Grade, Oak Hill Episcopal School, Ardmore

OREGON- Ashwin Sivakumar, 7th Grade, Oregon Episcopal School, Portland

PENNSYLVANIA- Eshan Singh, 7th Grade, Charles H Boehm Middle School, Yardley

RHODE ISLAND- Isaiah Suchman, 8th Grade, Nathan Bishop Middle School, Providence

SOUTH CAROLINA- Connor Fraley, 8th Grade, Williams Middle School, Florence

SOUTH DAKOTA- Owen Fink, 6th Grade, Bridgewater-Emery School, Bridgewater

TENNESSEE- Simeon Betapudi, 7th Grade, Evangelical Christian School, Cordova

TEXAS- Pranay Varada, 8th Grade, Dewitt Perry Middle School, Carrollton

UTAH- Ankit Garg, 7th Grade, Bear River Charter School, Logan

VERMONT- Anshuta Beeram, 6th Grade, Frederick H Tuttle Middle School, Burlington

VIRGINIA- Anish Susarla, 6th Grade, Belmont Ridge Middle School, Leesburg

WASHINGTON- Arjun Nathan, 8th Grade, Pine Lake Middle School, Sammamish

WEST VIRGINIA- Hunter Midcap, 8th Grade, St Michael Parish School, Wheeling

WISCONSIN- Thomas Wright, 8th Grade, University School of Milwaukee, Milwaukee

WYOMING- Preston Buehler, 7th Grade, Star Valley Middle School, Afton

ATLANTIC TERRITORIES- Matthew Haughton, 8th Grade, Antilles School, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands

PACIFIC TERRITORIES- Joanah Jimenez, 7th Grade, Marianas Baptist Academy, Saipan, MP

DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE DEPENDENTS SCHOOLS- Connor Buchheit, 8th Grade, Wiesbaden Middle School, APO, AE