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Sarah Rule advanced to the spelling bee finals after winning the middle school round of the bee Tuesday.
Rule, an eighth-grader from Milford School, outspelled four other students to take top honors at the middle school level. She is the daughter of James and Karen Rule, Milford.
Two students were eliminated from the bee after just three rounds. Pauline Campbell of Lakeview Middle School went down on "turbulence" in the sixth round, leaving Rule and Amy Gingery, an eighth-grader from Whitko Middle School.
Gingery made it through the sixth round, but had trouble with "pagoda" in the seventh. Rule correctly spelled "dormer," "garret" and "rustication" to win the match.
Rule needed to spell three words to win because of a change in spelling bee rules. Before, when the bee was down to two spellers and one missed a word, the remaining speller would have to spell the missed word, then spell a new word to win. Now, the remaining speller is given a new word instead orespelling the missed word, then must finish the round, then spell the next word on the list to claim the title.
Gingery is the daughter of Sally and Anthony Gingery, South Whitley.
As the winner of the middle school round, Rule will receive the $2,500 Richard R. Long Scholarship. The award is sponsored by the International Palace of Sports Foundation in North Webster.
Long will present the award tonight to Rule and to Tyler Petty, the winner from Monday's elementary round.
Rule and Petty will face off tonight for the county spelling championship. Because of scheduling conflicts, tonight's final has been changed to 5 p.m. in the downtown offices of WRSW.
Originally planned as a live broadcast, the final will be taped at 5 p.m., then broadcast at 7 p.m. on WRSW-AM and WRSW-FM.
