Freeman Wins County Spelling Bee For Second Year In A Row
Posted
David Slone-dslone@timesuniononline.com
Correctly spelling words like “circadian” and “anthropomorphic” Tuesday, Lakeview Middle School seventh-grader Nathan Freeman won the Kosciusko County Spelling Bee for the second consecutive year. The son of Rich and Jami Freeman, Warsaw, he now goes on to compete in the 60th annual Journal Gazette regional spelling bee March 8 at IPFW’s Auer Auditorium in the Rhinehart Music Center, Fort Wayne. 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. “It’s a really good feeling. I think I studied a lot more than I did last year. It’s a cool feeling to win twice in a row,” Freeman said. Despite it being his second time, he said he was nervous. However, he does have a plan to prepare for the regional. “Unless they give me new words, I’m going to keep working on the words they’ve already given me,” Freeman stated. Runner-up in the county championship spelling bee was Lincoln Elementary School fifth-grader Kendall Wayne. She is the daughter of David and Monica Wayne, Warsaw. To get to the championship match, Wayne and Freeman had to win their grade divisions. Each also 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. The county spelling bee started at 6 p.m. Tuesday with the fifth- and sixth-grade division. The 17 participants included fifth-graders George Gillman, Akron Elementary; Sam Lechlitner, Eisenhower; Wayne; Hudson Bollinger, Madison; Jacob Davis, Mentone; Samantha Kolberg, Milford; Nathan Smith, North Webster; Malcolm Hoover, Pierceton; Annie Burnett, Sacred Heart; Isabelle Bruner, Syracuse; Avery Hobbs, Warsaw Christian; and Brooklyn Fitzgerald, Washington; and sixth-graders Matthew Fox, Claypool; Soumya Vijayraj, Harrison; Jordan Diaz, Jefferson; Ashton Schuh, Leesburg; and Austyn McCord, Tippecanoe Valley Middle School. In the first round, six of the 17 elementary students misspelled their word. Two more went out in the second round, with six more out in the third. In round four, Vijayraj misspelled “animosity,” Wayne correctly spelled “virtuoso” but Davis misspelled “trajectory.” Wayne then correctly spelled “hygiene” for the win. Davis, the son of James and Brandi Davis, Mentone, was declared the runnerup. The middle school bee took twice as long as the elementary contest. Participants included seventh-graders Margaret Heinisch, Milford School, and Freeman; and eighth-graders Brandon Chan, Edgewood Middle School, and Addison Torres, Wawasee Middle School. Chan and Torres were out by the end of the third round. In round four, Heinisch misspelled “homogenous,” and Freeman correctly spelled “ubiquitous,” but then misspelled the championship word “anomaly.” A spectator questioned whether Freeman should have won with “ubiquitous,” but after the judges read the rules they determined he had to correctly spell “anomaly” to win so the spelling bee continued. In the seventh round, Heinisch correctly spelled “amicable,” then Freeman misspelled “gingham.” Heinisch then misspelled “poltergeist.” A new round started with Heinisch misspelling “picaresque.” Freeman then correctly spelled “efficacy” and “dachshund” for the win. Heinisch is the daughter of Doug and Heidi Heinisch, Milford. The county championship bee took only two rounds. In the second round, Wayne misspelled “comedienne” before Freeman won with “circadian” and “anthropomorphic.” Pronouncer for the bee this year was Grace College’s Dr. Paulette Sauders. Judges were Megan Engelberth, Kim Burkett, Rebecca Gliem and Sarah Wolf. 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.
