Worldly-Wisest Student Proves She Knows Where She's Going

And then there were two.

Seated on one side of Trebek's podium, Caitlin flicked her eyes around, her face flushed and taut with concentration. On the other side, Suneil sat calm and slumped, almost Zen.

"What is the Arabic term for a valley in the hot desert areas of northern Africa?"

In the 12-second interval, their pens set to scratching.

Wadi, both answered.

Neck and neck after three questions, Caitlin went for Italy and Suneil for Spain when asked which country administered the island of Lampedusa.

Italy it was. Then came the decider, on imperial Vietnam.

Suneil scribbled down Ho Chi Minh City. Caitlin went for Hué, including the accent over the e.

With that, Trebek pronounced the 2007 winner. Caitlin triumphed in the National Geographic Bee with not a single answer wrong in two days of competition and became only the second girl to win since the contest began in 1989.

"I hope people can be inspired by me," she said, adding: "It's really good to know where things are happening. Geography is not a boring subject."