Tuesday, February 3rd, 2015
Marion Local student wins record-setting county spelling bee
By David Giesige
Photo by Mark Pummell/The Daily Standard
Rachal Wolters, a Marion Local eighth-grader, waits for her next word at the annual Mercer County Spelling Bee Monday night in the James F. Dicke Hall at Wright State University-Lake Campus. Wolters won the competition after a record 36 rounds.
CELINA - The longest contest in Mercer County Spelling Bee history ended after 36 rounds with Rachal Wolters standing alone as champion.
Wolters, a Marion Local eighth-grader, spelled "salamander" correctly to defeat defending champion Dylan Langenkamp, a Fort Recovery sixth-grader.
If "salamander" seems too easy, that is because the final two spellers went head to head for 26 rounds Monday night, eventually reaching the end of the word list and forcing the judges to revert to earlier word levels.
Bee officials said they had not kept a record for most rounds but this year's bee was "at least 10 rounds longer" than at any prior event.
Twenty-four spellers representing Fort Recovery, St. Henry, Marion Local, Parkway and Coldwater participated. The event took place in the James F. Dicke Hall at Wright State University-Lake Campus and was coordinated by the Mercer County Educational Service Center in Celina.
"Rorschach," "bas-relief" and "souchong" were a few of the words Wolters spelled correctly during her historically long face-off with Langenkamp, who correctly spelled "mellifluous," "cygnet" and "Sisyphean" in the final rounds. The audience was, in a word, spellbound by their performances.
"That's the most rounds we've ever had at a bee here," pronouncer Dr. Jeffrey Tuneberg said after the competition.
Toward the end, even the two whiz kids were stumped by the likes of "ornithopter."
"I'm sorry, what did you even say?" a laughing Wolters asked the judges when the word was read aloud.
According to Tuneberg, bees typically last only about 17 to 20 rounds. As a result, the judges were ill-prepared for the later rounds.
"We had a hard time coming up with new words that were fair, yet challenging," Tuneberg said.
Langenkamp is eligible to participate again next year and said he has every intention of doing so.
Wolters, who will not be eligible to return next year due to her age, is looking on to the next round in Lima in March.
"If I'm at least not the first one out, I'll be happy," the humble Wolters said.
Fort Recovery eighth-grader Clayton Pearson was the second runner-up.
