World geography no test for Houston student

Future biologist, current seventh-grader finishes second in state bee

What is the capital of the only non-Middle East OPEC country?

The answer was the only thing standing between Will Kornmuller and a trip to Washington, D.C., as the state geography bee champion. Immediately, he knew the country — Venezuela. But coming up with the capital was the problem.

He couldn't come up with the correct answer — Caracas — but he did take second place in the bee, winning $75, a world atlas, sweatshirt, T-shirt, a CD-ROM of Alaska maps, an inflatable globe, two books on North American geography and a certificate.

The 13-year-old Houston Junior High School seventh-grader said the contest went better than he hoped.

"In 2000, I was in the geography bee and I didn't do good at all," Kornmuller said. "I studied with my parents and my teacher [Shawn Murphy], but I didn't think I'd get all the way to the championship round."

At the state bee, 100 geography experts in grades four through eight convened in Anchorage.

The top 10 scores after the preliminary rounds advanced to the finals. From there, the field was limited to just two students — Kornmuller, and an eighth-grader from Ketchikan.

In the final round, three questions were asked, with the student getting the most right winning a trip to the national bee in Washington, D.C.

"I was more nervous than he was, I think," said Elaina Kornmuller, Will's mother. "The adults kept looking at each other with these looks that said, ‘How did they know that?'"

The first question in the final round tested the students' knowledge of the mountain range with the highest volcanoes.

The other girl guessed the Andes, and Kornmuller went with the Himalayas. She was right, giving her a one-point lead after the first question.

The second question asked the students for the Australian state that has the largest bauxite mine. Kornmuller went with New South Wales, while his competitor guessed Victoria.

The right answer was South Australia, setting the stage for the final question about the OPEC country, which both students answered incorrectly.

Kornmuller said he likes geography the best in school, with spelling a close second. Math, however, is something he could live without, he said. His mother said he has always been fascinated with maps.

"He always was looking at maps and drawing them when he was a little boy," Elaina Kornmuller said. "He was a little cartographer even back then."

Kornmuller did not have time to savor his second-place finish, however. Last Thursday, he flew to Kotzebue to run dogs with his father, Bill Kornmuller.

Bill Kornmuller was racing his team of dogs in two races, and Will Kornmuller was running the kids' race in Shishmaref.

"I like running dogs, but I want to be a Fish and Game biologist," Kornmuller said of his future calling. "I like to fish and hunt."