Scott Tingle, a seventh grader from Senath-Hornersville Middle School, won the championship at the 15th Annual Three Rivers College Southeast Missouri Spelling Bee on Saturday.
Tingle’s championship word was “hierogram,” which means, “a sacred emblem or graphic symbol,” giving him the victory in the 12th round of the competition.
Finishing in second place was Lacey Coffer, a fifth-grade student from Poplar Bluff Middle School. Third place went to Abigail Nguyen, an eighth grader from Doniphan Middle School.
Next up for Tingle is a trip to Washington, D.C. to represent Three Rivers College and southeast Missouri at the Scripps National Spelling Bee during the week of May 27.
Twenty-five students from 15 area middle and elementary schools took part in this year’s competition. After the first two rounds of spelling, 16 students spelled incorrectly, and only nine students remained. By rule, this catapulted the regional bee into its championship rounds.
The remaining contestants, however, extended the spelling for ten more rounds before the winner was decided, at one point spelling 31 out of 32 words correctly.
The rest of the finalists finished in the following order:
Fourth place (tied) — Taylor Robinson, Kennett Middle School; Anthony Gracia, Lake Road Elementary.
Sixth place (tied) — Olivia Hall, Pemiscot Co. R-III Elementary; Eden Duncan, Caruthersville Middle School.
Eighth place — Owen Sage, Malden High School.
Ninth place — Kauner Jackson, Pemiscot Co. R-III Elementary.
Three Rivers College is an official sponsor for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Each year’s winner receives an expenses-paid trip to the nation’s capital for the nationwide competition, where they will match their spelling skills against more than 200 spellers from every state and several foreign nations.
The college’s efforts are supported by the following area sponsors: Southern Bank, Gamblin Lumber, Kennedy, Robbins, Yarbro & Henson, LC, Poplar Bluff Rotary Club, East Side Discount Pharmacy, Blaich Family Dentistry and Insta Print, all of Poplar Bluff, and Armco Rentals of Fredericktown.