From July 25 to Aug. 5, Joe Kiernan, Moorestown Friends School class of 2013, competed in the International Geography Olympiad as part of the inaugural delegation from the U.S. He was one of four American students who had the opportunity to travel to Kyoto, Japan, for the event.
Team USA, Pranav Bhandarkar, Nirav Ilango, Anton Karpovich and Kiernan, finished 14th overall in the competition. Amongst teams attending the Olympiad for the first time, this was the highest score.
Kiernan, a resident of Haddonfield, won an individual bronze medal overall and tied for first out of 126 individuals in the multimedia portion of the competition. Other portions included a short answer exam and a fieldwork exercise.
To qualify, Kiernan completed the United States Geography Challenge Qualifying Exam at the regional level and earned the highest score in the state tournament. He was then eligible for the National Championships in Arlington, Va. At the Championships, Kiernan placed third after participating in a multimedia multiple-choice exam, a short answer exam and a rigorous quiz bowl tournament.
This past spring, Kiernan also competed in the National History Bowl as part of Moorestown Friends School’s History Bowl team, which finished in the octofinals. In addition, he advanced to the quarterfinals of the National History Bee, in which he competed during the same weekend as the United States Geography Olympiad National Championships.
