Cheyenne County Spelling Bee goes 13 rounds

SIDNEY -- Twenty-eight spellers assembled at West Elementary School today in a contest for to determine the best speller.

The 2023 county spelling bee is a step toward the state spelling contest with the top spellers of each school in the county. The Cheyenne County Spelling is held at West Elementary School.

By the eighth round, Dan Grunig of Sidney Middle School, Gabe Thompson of Potter-Dix and Tucker Hardin who came from the West-North Elementary schools were left on stage.

"It feels really great to win," Tucker Hardin said of winning the contest. 

Hardin commended runner-up speller Gabe Thompson for his performance.

"He did really well," he said."I think we both did good. We both deserve to get first and second."

Thompson also commended Hardin for winning the competition.

"I've always loved spelling. I've always loved literature which is what spelling is part of. 

He said both he and Hardin deserve the top two places. 

"It feels good," he said.

Schools represented at the January 26 spelling bee include: Leyton (Henry McLaughlin, Auvi Cranmore, Aubri Broges, Gaige Harsca, Madilynn Mitchell and Bella Fischer), Potter-Dix (Skyler LaBeau, Drew Jeppson, Gabe Thompson, Paige Frerichs, Brooks Frerichs, Draken Russell, Emeri Reeve and Swayzee Carson), Sidney Middle School (Donald Lawson, Kolten Southland, Renna Morgan, Campbell Shoemaker, Reece Morgan, Barrett Wiegand, Aastha Chaudhari and Dan Grunig) and Sidney West/North Elementary schools (Abigail Keen, Caden Cox, Lydia Rutter, Leanna Jean Escobar, Mackenzie Gunhammer and Tucker Hardin).

The next level of spelling competition is the Midwest Spelling Bee in Omaha.

Each year, nearly 80 students from Nebraska and western-Iowa compete in the Omaha World-Herald's Midwest Spelling Bee. The students earn the right to compete in the Omaha World-Herald Midwest Spelling Bee by winning their county or district bees.

The 9th Scrips National Spelling Bee will be held May 30-June 1, 2023, at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

The Bee was first launched in 1925.