by Mark Hebert
The correct spelling of the words “dynamic “and “admiral” on Thursday night made eighth-grader Daylon Kuhl the champion of the Mineral County Spelling Bee, as the student from Superior Junior High edged out 22 other contestants to bring home the first-place trophy.
Kuhl said that of all the words he was asked to spell on the night, “admiral” was the toughest. Although he asked for a definition, he didn’t skip a beat with the spelling. Kuhl nailed both words in the final round without batting an eye, calling on his memory to guide him to victory.
“I read a book about an admiral once,” he said. “I can’t remember the name of the book, but there was definitely an admiral in it.”
The winner of the Superior Elementary Bee was sixth grader Sam Cole – winning on the words “implement” and “carmine” – where Kuhl didn’t finish as well as he would have liked.
“Even my sister (Myranda) beat me,” said Kuhl. “I tied for third and she tied for second. Sam did a really good job. But I feel better now. After three years of losing, I finally won.”
Kuhl said that in the last three years, he has finished in second place once and third place two times. He said that he felt it was high time that he took the championship.
“I finally finished it out,” he said.
Superior student Mike Reinelt took second place on the night and will travel with Kuhl to Helena for the state bee, to be held at Helena Capital on March 29. The winner of the state competition heads to the national bee in Washington, D.C. May 29-30.
For Reinelt, the second-place finish in the spelling bee follows a second-place finish in the geography bee in mid-January.
“I did pretty good,” Reinelt said, adding that he wasn’t very enthusiastic about the word he misspelled, enthusiasm. “I finished in fifth last year, so I improved.”
Kuhl said that he went to the state geography bee two years after winning the county competition and didn’t do as well as he liked, getting ousted in the first round. He said that this year, if he can keep his breakfast down, he like his chances at the championship.
“It all depends on if I don’t eat food before the bee,” he explained. “I’m going to be too nervous to keep it in my stomach.” If Kuhl were to get sick before the bee, Reinelt would be his backup.
All told, 22 spellers competed through three rounds before being whittled down to two contestants. Prior to the first round, Pronouncer/MC of the Event, Superior Elementary Principal Scott Kinney, guided the contestants through a practice round to allow them a chance to familiarize themselves with the bee’s format.
Kinney gave the children softball words to get warmed up and offered each child the chance to hear a definition of the word they were to spell, as well as the opportunity to hear the word used in a sentence.
The contestants all seemed nervous and a little tight, as did the 100 or so parents, family and friends in the audience.
However, that ended when Superior fifth-grader Jordan Mueller took Kinney to task.
“Can I have a definition?” quizzed Mueller when given the word “green,” getting a laugh from the crowd and seeming to erase some of the angst in her fellow competitors.
“The color of your shirt,” replied Kinney, warning her, “I know your mother.”
The honorable judges for the night were Jake Giffin of Alberton, Diane Gingerich of St. Regis and Angie Hopwood of Superior.
The winner of the Alberton Bee, eighth grader Dayton Hudson, and St. Regis winner Dakota Wickhan, a fifth grader, were on hand for the event as 32 students qualified to compete after doing well in their school bees.
Here’s a list of the county’s best young spellers and the grade they are in.
Alberton: David Pick, seventh grade; Dayton Hudson, eighth grade; Todd Mystrol, seventh grade; and Alisha Senn, seventh grade;
St. Regis: Allison Davids, seventh grade; Jordan Baldwin, eighth grade; Damen Lucier, sixth grade; Robert Shope, fifth grade; Andrew Hass, sixth grade; Cheyenne Yearout, fifth grade; Keenan Ewalt, sixth grade; Dakota Wickham, fifth grade; Juliana Spencer, eighth grade; Shadrick Rich, seventh grade; Brandon Jones, eighth grade; Steven Wilmer, eighth grade; Ronnie Graham, seventh grade; Spur Hill, seventh grade; Olivia Drobny, fifth grade; and Jarrod Tippens, sixth grade;
Superior: Myranda Kuhl, seventh grade; Mike Reinelt, eighth grade; Sam Cole, sixth grade; Bella Hobart, fifth grade; Aaron Raycove, sixth grade; Jordan Mueller, fifth grade; Theresa Rosheim, seventh grade; Heather Kelly, sixth grade; Lenaya Simpson, fifth grade; Daylon Kuhl, eighth grade; Wyatt Zylawy, fifth grade; and Austin King, sixth grade.
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