Edgewood's Kuhaneck Wins County Spelling Bee With 'Origami,' 'Cryptic'
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David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
With the correct spelling of two words in the first round of the championship match, Edgewood Middle School eighth-grader Lora Kuhaneck won the 2015 Kosciusko County Spelling Bee Tuesday evening. Kuhaneck, the daughter of Bill and Jamie Norris and Wayne Kuhaneck, faced Akron Elementary School fifth-grader Mallory Durkes in the championship finals. Durkes, the daughter of Craig and Shari Durkes, won the fifth- and sixth-grade spelling bee to advance to the final spelling bee. Kuhaneck won the seventh- and eighth-grade bee to advance. In the first round of the championship spelling bee, Durkes went first and misspelled “origami.” Kuhaneck correctly spelled that word and then “cryptic” for the win. “It happened really fast,” Kuhaneck said. “It’s a lot to take in. I practiced as much as I could, whenever I could.” For winning their divisions of the county spelling bee, Durkes and Kuhaneck each received a trophy and a $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship. The scholarship is given in recognition of Long’s years of service to the children, teachers and parents of North Webster School and in honor of his work for the International Palace of Sports, now known as the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundation. The Shoop Foundation funds the spelling bee scholarships to help provide future higher education for the spelling bee winners. Kuhaneck now advances to the 61st annual Journal Gazette Regional Spelling Bee, presented by Touchstone Energy Cooperatives in partnership with The Journal Gazette, on March 7 at IPFW’s Auer Auditorium in the Rhinehart Music Center. The regional bee winner will represent 15 counties in Northeast Indiana and Northwest Ohio at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., in May. The Kosciusko County Spelling Bee started Tuesday at 6 p.m. in the Lakeview Middle School auditorium with the elementary division. Words like “monacan,” “fluctuation” and “ancillary” challenged the students. Of the 16 participants, seven went out in the first round and seven in the second. That left Durkes and Leesburg Elementary School sixth-grader Cameron Wood, the son of Harry and Ariana Wood, to compete for the elementary division. In round three, Durkes correctly spelled “harbinger,” but Wood missed “surfeit” by leaving out the “i”. Durkes correctly spelled it and then “pusillanimous” for the victory. “It was pretty cool because it was my first time doing it,” Durkes said of winning the elementary division. Other elementary students who participated included Emily Collins, Claypool Elementary; Jackson Elliott, Eisenhower; Shashwat Agrawal, Harrison; Kaleb Harter, Jefferson; Kendall Wayne, Lincoln; Keyla Navarro, Madison; Mateo Salazar, Mentone; Amber Beer, Milford; Cameron Kryder, North Webster; Shoshana Keim, Pierceton; Andrew Ross, Sacred Heart; Lauren Miller, Syracuse; Daniel Zogbi, Warsaw Christian; and Jessica Mason, Washington. Other students competing in the middle school division were eighth-graders Lydia Harrison, Lakeview Middle School; Margaret Heinisch, Milford School; and Billy Gillman, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School. In the first round of the middle school division, spelling bee pronouncer Dr. Paulette Sauders, Grace College, gave the students words like “adumbrate,” “dilapidated,” “hyacinth” and “tautology.” Harrison dropped out in the third round and Heinisch was out by round six. Gillman and Kuhaneck kept going until Gillman misspelled “souvenir” in the 13th round. Kuhaneck spelled that correctly as well as “hydrology.” Gillman is the son of Billy and Angela Gillman. Judges were Sarah Wolfe, Amanda Scroggs, Grace McDillon and Rogge Merriman. Organizer was LMS Assistant Principal Matt Deeds. Kosciusko REMC sponsors the trophies and sponsors all the schools in the county for the spelling bee by paying the fees. KREMC also sponsors the local winner at the regional competition.
