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It took 39 rounds, but Holly Kolberg, seventh-grader from Milford School, was pronounced the winner Tuesday in the middle school spelling bee.
Kolberg received a $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship and a plaque, and will compete Thursday for the county title.
Six middle-schoolers met at the Wawasee Middle School media center Tuesday for the seventh- and eighth-grade spelling bee.
The first missed word, "enormous," was in the first round, and the remaining five spellers went another six rounds before Jessica David of Lakeland Christian stumbled in round seven on "hairhound."
It took another eight rounds of such words as "summons," "drab," "spruce," "June," "Tuesday," "unicorn" and "ribbon" before Colt Hudson of Edgewood Middle School misspelled "spangle" in round 15.
Three spellers - Kolberg, Chris Allen of Lakeview Middle School and Paige Geer of Wawasee Middle School - lasted another five rounds, correctly spelling "kinswoman," "heraldry" and "reelected" before Allen missed "supplant" in round 20.
That left Kolberg and Geer to go another 19 rounds of words varying in difficulty, such as "surrendered," "soon," "interrelate," "youth" and "heart" to the final round in which Geer misspelled "granule."
In a departure from the usual rules, the judges did not require Kolberg to spell "granule" after Geer missed it. Instead, Kolberg was given "satchel," which she correctly spelled, and was then named the winner.
Runner-up Geer is the daughter of Blake and Connie Geer, Syracuse.
Kolberg, the daughter of Doyle and Cynthia Kolberg, Syracuse, also was the winner of the elementary bee in 2003 when she was in fifth grade.
Kolberg and the winner of Monday's bee, Kristen Allen, will vie for the county title Thursday at 7 p.m.
