Lyon County’s representatives at the Topeka Capital-Journal’s 56th Annual Regional Spelling bee did well, placing fourth and eighth in the competition held Saturday in Topeka.
Meg Detwiler, sixth-grader at Lowther North Intermediate School, took fourth in the competition. Gabriel O’Connor, an eight-grader at Neosho Rapids, took eighth place. Both competitors said this morning they are pleased with their outcome. They competed among 46 spellers from 25 counties. The bee went for 21 rounds, according to the Topeka Capital-Journal. Meredith Foulke, a seventh-grader at Overbrook Attendance Center in Osage County, won the competition and will compete at the National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C., May 26-29.
Meg and Gabriel said the competition was nerve-wracking and unpredictable.
“I wasn’t nervous about it before but once we got up there I was,” Meg said this morning. “I just sort of calmed down a little bit after I spelled a couple of words.”
Gabriel said he was nervous as well.
“About the second or third round I was pretty calm,” he said this morning.
Meg said she did a lot of studying for the competition.
“I just studied from the little booklet that they gave me at school and from my word list from last year,” she said.
The words were unpredictable, Gabriel said.
“It was weird actually,” he said. “Some of them were pretty easy and then they’d randomly have these wacky words in there.”
Meg went out of the competition on the word “molé,” which is a Spanish word. Gabriel went out on the word “malihini.”
Meg said she plans on returning to the competition next year.
“I think I can do better next year,” she said.
This was Gabriel’s last year he could compete, as he is in eighth grade.
“I think I did pretty well and I’m glad to end at least going to state,” he said.
cdetx5 (anonymous) says...
I would just like to thank the Gazette for their coverage of both the Lyon County Spelling Bee and the Regional Spelling Bee. It is so nice to read positive and uplifting articles about our children. It is always nice to see "good news" on the front page.
March 16, 2009 at 6:26 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
cheryl (anonymous) says...
Way to go, Meg! Nice job.
And congratulations to Gabriel, too.
March 16, 2009 at 8:20 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )