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Shortly before Sacred Heart Cathedral School's spelling bee began, Elizabeth Cox asked the Holy Spirit to help her.
Her prayer must have worked, because the second-grader took second place Wednesday in the competition behind her fellow second-grader Cooper Gobin.
Elizabeth said she had imagined how the spelling bee might turn out.
"I had a dream last night that I would be second and Cooper would be first, and that we would go against each other as the two people left," she said. "And that really did happen."
Fifteen students stepped up to the microphone during the contest for first- through third-graders, spelling words like "bicycle," "overalls," "weigh" and "August." But the 15 spellers soon dwindled to two as students missed a word and joined their classmates in the bleachers in the Sacred Heart gym.
Before long, Elizabeth and Cooper were the only ones left standing.
Elizabeth and Cooper stepped to the microphone, where they listened as the judges explained the elimination process. If either Elizabeth or Cooper missed a word, the other student would have to spell that word correctly, plus another word, to claim the title.
Cooper said later that he was nervous before the contest began, since it meant spelling in front of a lot of people. But his nerves changed to happiness when he won.
"Because I came in first, and I never came in first," Cooper said.
Earlier that morning, 16 fourth- through eighth-graders took the stage for their own bee, using their word knowledge to spell words like "lilac," "empty," "innermost" and "ovation." Some students spelled their words without hesitating, while others bought a few seconds to think by asking the judges for a definition or a sentence using the word.
The group was eventually narrowed down to three students: eighth-grader Shannon Wenzl, eighth-grader Brekk Flax and sixth-grader Dawson Williams. Shannon was eliminated which left Brekk and Dawson to compete for the title.
Both students missed "battalion." Then Brekk misspelled "correspondence," giving Dawson a chance to win.
Dawson spelled "correspondence" and "anthrax" correctly, winning the title and earning cheers from the audience.
Dawson said he did not think he would do well, since he was competing against older students. But he was surprised — and pleased — to realize he could outspell them.
"I feel pretty happy because I know that I beat the eighth-graders," he said.
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or email him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.
Shortly before Sacred Heart Cathedral School's spelling bee began, Elizabeth Cox asked the Holy Spirit to help her.
Her prayer must have worked, because the second-grader took second place Wednesday in the competition behind her fellow second-grader Cooper Gobin.
Elizabeth said she had imagined how the spelling bee might turn out.
"I had a dream last night that I would be second and Cooper would be first, and that we would go against each other as the two people left," she said. "And that really did happen."
Fifteen students stepped up to the microphone during the contest for first- through third-graders, spelling words like "bicycle," "overalls," "weigh" and "August." But the 15 spellers soon dwindled to two as students missed a word and joined their classmates in the bleachers in the Sacred Heart gym.
Before long, Elizabeth and Cooper were the only ones left standing.
Elizabeth and Cooper stepped to the microphone, where they listened as the judges explained the elimination process. If either Elizabeth or Cooper missed a word, the other student would have to spell that word correctly, plus another word, to claim the title.
Cooper said later that he was nervous before the contest began, since it meant spelling in front of a lot of people. But his nerves changed to happiness when he won.
"Because I came in first, and I never came in first," Cooper said.
Earlier that morning, 16 fourth- through eighth-graders took the stage for their own bee, using their word knowledge to spell words like "lilac," "empty," "innermost" and "ovation." Some students spelled their words without hesitating, while others bought a few seconds to think by asking the judges for a definition or a sentence using the word.
The group was eventually narrowed down to three students: eighth-grader Shannon Wenzl, eighth-grader Brekk Flax and sixth-grader Dawson Williams. Shannon was eliminated which left Brekk and Dawson to compete for the title.
Both students missed "battalion." Then Brekk misspelled "correspondence," giving Dawson a chance to win.
Dawson spelled "correspondence" and "anthrax" correctly, winning the title and earning cheers from the audience.
Dawson said he did not think he would do well, since he was competing against older students. But he was surprised — and pleased — to realize he could outspell them.
"I feel pretty happy because I know that I beat the eighth-graders," he said.
Reach Eric Swanson at (620) 408-9917 or email him at eric.swanson@dodgeglobe.com.
