Associated Press

PEARL — A seventh-grader from Oxford Middle School is the winner of the 2016 Mississippi National Geographic Bee.

Edmund Doerksen took top honors at the competition held Friday at the Clyde Muse Center on Hinds Community College in Pearl.

As the state champion, Doerksen received $100, the National Geographic book “The National Parks: An Illustrated History,” a medal and he will travel to Washington, D.C., to represent Mississippi in the National Geographic Bee Championship May 23-25.

The national champion will receive a $50,000 college scholarship and lifetime membership in the National Geographic Society among other prizes. Second- and third-place finishers will receive $25,000 and $10,000 college scholarships, respectively.