After more than three hours of spelling dozens of words, Lyla Heising, an eighth-grader from Pettisville Junior High School in Wauseon, Ohio, topped 50 of the region’s best spellers in the 2018 Blade Northwest Ohio Championship Spelling Bee. This was her fourth and final chance to advance from the regional event. She won with "innovative." 

Photo credit: Jetta Fraser, The Blade