Rhoads Victorious in County Bee

By Doug Carder

Osawatomie sixth grader Thaine Rhoads went on an alphabet safari and bagged a Miami County spelling bee trophy Friday afternoon at Louisburg Middle School.

After four rounds, 18 competitors from schools across the county had been narrowed to two: Rhoads and Louisburg sixth grader Dustyn Rizzo.

Rhoads and Rizzo battled for another eight rounds before Rhoads emerged victorious.

Rizzo tripped up on the word “crochet” to start the 12th round. Rhoads correctly spelled “safari” and then correctly spelled the winning word, “alcove,” to be crowned the 2011 Miami County spelling bee winner.

“I was quite surprised to win,” said Rhoads, who has been participating in spelling bees since the third grade.

Rhoads will represent the county at the state spelling bee March 12 in Great Bend.

The top two spellers from Louisburg, Osawatomie and Paola middle schools, Broadmoor Elementary, Hillsdale Elementary, Sunflower Elementary, Trojan Elementary, Holy Trinity and Holy Rosary competed in the county bee.

Other students representing Osawatomie at the bee were: OMS eighth grader Larissa Thompson, Trojan fourth grader Sophia Johnson and Trojan fifth grader Katie Inscore.

Short URL: http://osawatominews.com/?p=863

Posted by admin on Feb 9 2011. Filed under News and Updates. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry