The Big Sandy Mountaineer -

GREAT FALLS, MT – Fourth through eighth grade students at Foothills Community Christian School participated in the National Geographic Bee this morning. 20 students competed against one another answering geography questions for over 2 hours to determine a winner. The fierce battle involved several tie breakers to determine who would advance through each round.

4th grade student Hallie Kralich answered her way to victory followed closely by 8th grade student Jacob Lehmann. 6th grade student Sophia Degel finished third. Kralich is the youngest student to win the Foothills Geography Bee.

All 4-8 grade students previously completed a 50-question written exam to qualify for today's meet. The top 20 scoring students were invited to participate in 3 rounds of oral questions this morning.

Kralich will now have the opportunity to take an online exam to earn an opportunity to compete in the statewide meet. State qualifiers are announced on March 4 and if Kralich qualifies, she will compete against other Montana students on April 1. Statewide winners advance to complete in the National Championship May 22-25, 2016 in Washington, D.C.

Foothills Community Christian School is a non-denominational Christian school serving grades Pre-K through 12 with a student enrollment of 160. Additional information about Foothills can be found at http://www.foothillschristian.org. Additional information about the National Geographic Bee can be found at http://www.nationalgeographic.com/geobee/.