Spelling bee goes 11 rounds
Excitement and disappointment were the contrasting emotions experienced by two Forestview Middle School students in the final rounds of The Lakes Bee Friday in Tornstrom Auditorium at Washington Educational Services Building in Brainerd.
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Seventh-grader Ashlee Hauble correctly spelled "barrio" and "poltergeist" to defeat the last challenger, eighth-grader Connor Gunsbury, who failed to spell "provolone."
"Wow," Ashlee said of her win. "I'm so excited that I am shaking. I didn't think it was going to go well. I was like shocked when he (Connor) got it wrong."
Forestview Middle School seventh-grader Ashlee Hauble smiled after she was named the champion of The Lakes Bee on Friday at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd.
Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls
Ashlee, 14, was named the champion of the regional bee after competing in 11 rounds and outlasting 37 other students in fourth through eighth grade in Crow Wing, Morrison, Wadena, Todd and Cass counties - winning herself a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national spelling bee in May.
Ashlee, the daughter of Lee and Kathy Hauble of Brainerd, said she wasn't sure how to spell "barrio." Ashlee said her older sister is in Spanish and their conversations about the language helped her spell the word correctly.
"I was relieved when I heard my last word because I knew it," Ashlee said. "I was so nervous."
Brainerd second- through fifth-grade bee winners announced
The Brainerd School District's second- through fifth-grade spelling bees were hosted in February. A total of 46 students participated.
The winners for the second-grade bee were Rebecca Opsteen of Lowell Elementary School and Lily Hurlbert of Nisswa Elementary School tied for first place. Boston Hackbart of Garfield Elementary School was the runner-up.
In third-grade results, Chase Christian of Garfield earned first place and MacKenzie Lavigne of Riverside Elementary School was runner-up.
In fourth-grade results, Cody Schmaltz of Garfield earned first place and Lauren Crabtree of Garfield and Jacob Hodge of Lowell tied as runners-up.
Forestview Middle School fifth-grade results were Lauren Forsythe, first place, and Emily DeChaine, runner-up.
Words Ashlee had to spell during the regional competition were "forlorn," "acronym," "chimichanga," "alliteration," "allegory," "patriarch," "vigilante," "homogeneous" and "ergonomic."
In The Lakes Bee, sponsored by the National Joint Powers Alliance, once a student spells a word incorrectly they are disqualified.
In the first round, nine students were eliminated, including Peter Wells, a seventh-grader at Forestview. Wells had trouble spelling "croquette." Wells made a face when he heard the word and then spelled the first two letters correctly. He then paused for what seemed to be a few minutes and then started reciting the alphabet. Wells knew he was done and drew applause from the audience.
Carol Jackson of the National Joint Powers Alliance placed a medal around the head of Ashlee Hauble, a seventh-grader at Forestview Middle School in Baxter, to crown her the winner of The Lakes Bee on Friday at Tornstrom Auditorium in Brainerd.
For more photos of the spelling bee check out the Spotted gallery at spotted.brainerddispatch.com.
Emily Ladd, a seventh-grader in the Pierz School District, placed third in the contest.
JENNIFER STOCKINGER may be reached at jennifer.stockinger@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5851.