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Buzzwords: Corcoran claims victory at Marietta Times Spelling Bee

By James Dobbs 3 min read

MARIETTA -- Students from 12 local school districts spelled their hearts out Friday during The Marietta Times 42nd Regional Spelling Bee.

The Mid-Ohio Valley Players Theater was packed with students and loved ones to show their support to spellers.

Dr. Bill Ruud, Marietta College, was the pronouncer and one of the judges.

Ruud said he loves seeing the challenge and seeing students' eyes light up as they spell a word correctly.

"I just enjoy educating the youth of America, I'm a big fan of the next generation," he said. "And the spelling bee is something that is not athletic, it's not in the classroom, but it's a way young people can compete and learn, and some win and some don't win, but that's life."

Candice Black, The Marietta Times, was also a judge. Christina Myer, The Marietta Times executive editor, was the spelling bee emcee.

George Wells, Mid-Ohio Valley Theater president and Spelling Bee coordinator for Switzerland of Ohio, said this is the first time the theater has been open to the public since its renovation. The ceiling, walls and archway were painted and redone.

"We are working on doing more renovations to this theater because it opened in 1915, and as of March 15, it's 108 years old," he said.

The spelling bee consisted of three rounds. The first and second rounds took four students from each group for the final round of eight students to decide the fifth place through grand prize winners.

Group A spellers from Belpre, Fort Frye, Frontier, Parkersburg Catholic, St. John, St. Mary and St. Sylvester, spelled words like petrifying, linguistics, elasticity and fructose.

Jesse Dean, St. Sylvester, Kathryn Nguyen, St. Mary, Charlee Harper, St. Sylvester, and Matthias Grueneberg, Parkersburg Catholic, all moved on to the final round.

Group B spellers from Pleasants County, Switerzerland of Ohio, Veritas, Warren Local and Wood County spelled words like fatuously, porosity, reciprocity and demographics. Grant Smith, Switzerland of Ohio, Henry Corcoran, Veritas, Masen Burkman, Wood County, and Bradley Westbrook, Wood County, also moved on to the final round.

The final moments of the bee came down to Dean and Corcoran spelling head to head. Corcoran spelled axiomatic, followed by aerobics to seal his victory.

Winners:

* First: Henry Corcoran

* Second: Jesse Dean

* Third: Bradley Westbrook

* Fourth: Charlee Harper

* Fifth: Masen Burkman

After the spelling was over, Corcoran said he practiced hard to reach the top. He plans to get back to studying for the national spelling bee, but hopes to relax by playing Minecraft before that happens.

Corcoran won the $100 grand prize sponsored by People's Bank, a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, The Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, a one-year subscription to Britannica Online Premium and a six-night stay at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center for him and one of his parents. He will move on to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee from Sunday, May 28, to Saturday, June 3, at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, National Harbor, Md.

The second place winner, Dean, received a $50 gift card and first place through fifth place winners received trophies.

James Dobbs can be reached at jdobbs@newsandsentinel.com.

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