Lehman outlasts Kline in West Holmes spelling bee

  • By Dave Mast
  • February 4, 2010
  • 941
                        
West Holmes eighth-grader Max Lehman had a shot at putting the West Holmes Spelling Bee in his back pocket in round 11. “Enfranchise” got the best of him. He then could have put Shelby Kline away in round 13, but “cajolery” sent the bee onward. In round 14 it was “analogize” which got in the way of a win, and in round 15 it was “adieu” which kept him from saying farewell to the competition. But finally, in round 16, after Kline missed on “anticoagulant,” Lehman nailed “paramecium,” then rolled out the correct version of the word “rotisserie” to become the 2010 West Holmes spelling bee champion. In doing so, Lehman became the second consecutive West Holmes eighth-grader to nab both the district’s spelling bee and geography bee in the same year, following in the footsteps of Danny Nelson. And to think, Lehman almost wasn’t even a participant in the event. “I decided pretty late that I’d even get in at all,” said Lehman. “I really didn’t study at all. I figured I’d just wing it. I’m usually better off when I’m doing that anyway.” A total of 24 students began the day with thoughts of winning a title, but began falling to the wayside immediately. Four went down in the first round, and four more disappeared on the words “diamond,” “senator,” “solemn” and “missile” in round two. From there on out, one or two dropped out of the competition on words like “immature,” “scruple” and “quarantine.” “Hysterical” sent fifth-place finisher Tyler McElroy packing, while one round later, Sumney Sigler was out after missing “subterranean.” If the lanky eighth-grader, who loves to read and considers science his favorite (but definitely not math), wasn’t exactly prepared, it didn’t show, as Lehman calmly cruised to the final three seats, along with Kline and third-place finisher Cody Starr. Starr was the first to go out, misfiring on the word “rutabaga,” and then upon being given a second chance, thanks to a miss for the title by Kline (“fallacy”), he missed “ineffable.” “I don’t have any idea what a rutabaga even looks like, although I think it’s some kind of a vegetable,” said Starr, who said he went to a pair of online spelling bee study sites to prepare for the bee. That left Kline and Lehman, and if Lehman was the epitome of relaxed, Kline said she was anything but. “I was so nervous,” said Kline. “During the last break, I told one of my friends that I was so nervous, I could hardly breathe and my hands were shaking. I’m pretty thrilled with finishing second. I’m kind of surprised I even made it through the first round.” Much like many spelling bee leaders, Kline is also a reader, and considers English one of her better subjects. So for the runner-up, a second place finish was fine, considering her competition. “I’m happy at second, especially against Max — the big know-it-all,” said Kline with a laugh. So will Lehman, who said he prefers the challenge of the geography bee a great deal more than the spelling bee, hit the books hard for his bid at the regional competition on Mar. 6, at GlenOak High School? In the same laid-back attitude that was part of the reason he was able to remain calm in front of a revolvingly large crowd of students all morning, he said, “Yeah, I’ll probably study some... well, I don’t know, maybe I’ll just wing it again.” The 24 spelling bee contestants included Lehman, Kline, Starr, fellow eighth-graders Tyler McElroy, Tessa Baker, Emily James, Alexis Eliot, Alexis Rolince, Sumney Sigler, Raichelle Erman, Abby Wagner and Taylor Keim. Seventh-graders Madison Chaney and Brandon Kozak and sixth-graders Mia Sigler, Cory Cotrell, Kinsey Martin, Cody Straits, Hannah Pratt, Mystique Martin, Crystal Dorsey, Jillian Gurley, Serena Miller and Hannah Schlegel. Connie Edwards, Nina Snell and Nic Fioritto served as the judges, and Josh Wengerd served as the pronouncer. The event was coordinated by Carla Lance, who also served as a judge.


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