Having one national finals experience under his belt, Aidan Veress, an eighth-grader from Gardiner School in Montana, said this year there wasn't as much pressure. His calm and cool demeanor helped as he worked through some tricky words in the Treasure State Spelling Bee. He took first place for the second year in a row when he correctly spelled "Talmud."
Alice Liu, a sixth-grader from Crestview Middle School, stayed calm as she anticipated each word in the rounds of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch Spelling Bee. She bested 49 other finalists to earn a return trip to the national finals. She was one of the top 15 in the finals last year and is working hard to return to the finals in 2018. Her winning word was "alcheringa."
Iris McDonnell, an eighth-grader at Oswego Middle School in New York, will head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee after outlasting 25 other competitors in the regional event. She's been waiting and studying for a long time. She competed at the regional level for three years in fourth through sixth grade. Her final two words were "intaglio" and "edelweiss."
In the first year for the Maryland Sports Spelling Bee, Storrie Kulynych-Irvin, a home-schooled student, outlasted 23 other students from five counties and Annapolis to win. Her championship word was "patel." She said her interest in spelling originated with the fun she had with spelling tests. Now, she's on her way to the national finals.
A misspelled word in 2017 was all the motivation Mira Yu, a seventh-grader at Boston Latin School, needed to study and prepare for this year's Boston Centers for Youth and Families citywide spelling bee. Her younger sister helped her study pronunciations and roots. Mira proudly hoisted the first-place trophy after spelling "cacophony" for the win.
Calvin Alexander, a seventh grader from Caddo Middle Magnet in Shreveport, Louisiana, is the champion for the second consecutive year of the Northwest Louisiana regional spelling bee, sponsored by Louisiana State University and KTBS-TV. His winning word was “nectarivorous.” The competition involved 22 spellers from 28 regions, and it lasted 20 rounds.
The 30th annual Links, Inc./The Times-Picayune Spelling Bee in New Orleans came down to an impressive and dramatic conclusion. Thomas Gross III of LaPLace Elementary won with "tritium" after 25 rounds of words just between the last two spellers. The appreciative crowd gasped in disbelief over the difficulty of some words during the 40-round competition.
Persistence paid off for Maya Jyothinagaram, an eighth-grader from Maroa-Forsyth Middle School in Decatur, Illinois, when she won the Central Illinois regional spelling bee on her fifth time competing in the event and after years of studying. Her winning word was "agave" in the 17th round.
It was fitting for an eighth-grader from St. Patrick School in Terre Haute, Indiana, to win the Tribune-Star Wabash Valley Regional Spelling Bee on St. Patrick's Day. Eleanor Gallagher squared off with 23 other students from Wabash Valley elementary and middle schools before spelling the championship word for a musical instrument she recognized, "spinet."
Joseph Moran, a sixth-grader from North Idaho Home Educators Association, won the 15th annual North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee. Joseph is the returning champion for his region that includes 40 schools across North Idaho. The event lasted 26 rounds and Joseph won by correctly spelling "arachnid" and "surveillance."