Managing editor
Some of the words were unusual — not words used regularly — as 20 Marion County students vied for the title of county spelling bee champion Feb. 10.
“Ineffable.
“Omniscient.”
“Conundrum.”
The word that gave Claire Heyen of Hillsboro the championship was “psychoanalysis.”
It happened in Round 8 when there were four students still competing. In that round, Claire was the only one to spell her word correctly, “infatuation.”
In order to be the champion, Claire had to spell correctly the next word, which was “psychoanalysis.”
Bradli Nowak of Hillsboro Middle School, Brenna Shields of Centre Junior High School, and Tylor Baker of Peabody-Burns Junior High School went into the next rounds to determine second and third places.
Bradli correctly spelled “enfranchise.” Brenna missed one letter in the word “adjudicate.” She forgot the “d.” Tylor then spelled “omniscient” correctly, sending the bee into another round.
In that round, Bradli misspelled “cajolery.” Tylor correctly spelled “analgesia” but had to spell another word correctly to win second place and he did — “conundrum.”
Students through eighth grade competed in spelling bees in their respective elementary and middle school competitions. The winners of those competitions competed in Marion for the county title.
Claire will compete March 13 at Barton County Community College in Great Bend for the regional title.
Those competing were Jacob Stoneberger and Abigail Svoboda, Centre Elementary School, and Brenna Shields and Amy Makovec, Centre Junior High School; Jennifer Meysing and Julia Nightengale, Goessel Elementary School, and Erin Brubaker and Lawton Makovec, Goessel Junior High School; Vance Klassen and Lanna Wagner, Hillsboro Elementary School, and Bradli Nowak and Claire Heyen, Hillsboro Middle School; Devin Regnier and Paige May, Marion Elementary School, and Caitlyn Maloney and Zach Robson, Marion Middle School; and Brandon Entz and Jayton Scott, Peabody-Burns Elementary School, and Kiefer Larsen and Tylor Baker, Peabody-Burns Junior High School.