Congratulations to the University of Maryland Geography Bowl team for their 2nd place finish at this year’s Geography Bowl sponsored by the Middle Atlantic Division (MAD) of the Association of American Geographers (AAG) during the division’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, October 3, 2009. 
The tournament, which was held at the Germantown campus of Montgomery College, drew teams from area colleges and universities, including University of Maryland at College Park, George Washington University, Frostburg State University, Salisbury University, and Montgomery College.  The University of Maryland team finished 3-1, having lost only to Salisbury, which went 4-0 during the tournament. 
This year’s team consisted of graduate students Lidia Lopez, Tom Fitzwater and Jason Newton.  In addition to the team’s success, Jason and Tom earned spots on the division’s six-member All-Star team and will be representing MAD at the World Geography Bowl, which will be held at the April 2010 AAG Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.  During the regional tournament, Jason scored the most points of all contenders and will serve as the division’s Captain, while Tom secured the final spot on the team after winning a sudden-death match.  Four other high-scoring students from competing schools were also selected to the All-star team.

This year’s team consisted of Lidia Lopez, Tom Fitzwater and Jason Newton.