Eliana Blachman approached the microphone with confidence as the judge asked, “The Garden Ring, with its eight lanes of traffic, crosses Gorky Park in which European capital city?” Blachman responded, “Moscow” correctly answering her last question with ease and earning her the Open Window School championship and her next step toward the National Geographic Bee.

Blachman, an eighth-grader at the school, will battle 100 other state students March 27 at Pacific Lutheran University for the right to represent Washington at the geography championships in Washington, D.C., in May.

Now in its 27th year, the National Geographic Bee competition has been the standard for geography greatness. Following Blachman’s win, she and her competitors had to pass a qualifying test, graded by the National Geographic Society. The top-100 scoring students in each state, the District of Columbia, Department of Defense Dependents Schools and U.S. territories to compete in state bees.

Blachman, the third student at Open Window to compete in the bee, said she’s excited about the opportunity to represent her school, her community and her state, if she’s able to outlast the others later this month.

If Blachman wins, she’ll receive $100, the “National Geographic Atlas of the World, 10th Edition,” a medal and trip to the nation’s capitol.

But first she’ll have to conquer questions such as: “Six-time Super Bowl champions, the Pittsburgh Steelers, play football near the source of the Ohio River in which state — Alabama or Pennsylvania?” and “Balboa Park, with more than 10 museums, performing arts centers and gardens, is located in which southern California city?”

Blachman correctly guessed Pennsylvania and San Diego, respectively.