MANSFIELD — Kairi Robertson had the first correctly spelled word of the night Thursday. More importantly, the Madison Middle School seventh-grade student also had the last.
By correctly spelling “circumflex,” a mark placed over a vowel in some languages to indicate contraction, length, or pitch or tone, Robertson outlasted 35 other students to win the annual Tri-County Spelling Bee.
Crestline seventh-grader Drake Moyer was the runner-up, failing on his last word, “ad nauseam,” a Latin term for argument or other discussion that has continued to the point of nausea.
Just don’t ask Robertson, the daughter of Rachel Robertson and Joshua Robertson, which of her seven correctly spelled words made her most nervous.
“I don’t really know. I don’t even remember what my words were,” Robertson said with a laugh afterward, celebrating her first-ever spelling bee win. She said she finished fourth in the Richland County Spelling Bee in January and finished in the top nine in her school spelling bee.
The winner of the Richland County event, Ontario eighth-grader Alexis Shaver, went out in the fourth round in the Tri-County contest, missing the word “hirsute,” an adjective used to describe someone or something covered with coarse stiff hairs.
Robertson, the only Madison student competing Thursday, said she didn’t practice for the event, saying she comes by her spelling skills naturally. She admitted she is not fond of reading.
“I am dyslexic, so it’s kind of hard,” said Robertson, adding art is her favorite subject. “I had absolutely no time (to practice) because I get caught up with my brothers.
“My mom tried to practice with me in the car, but most of them I got wrong. Then again, she was giving me adult words off some random website,” Robertson said with a laugh.
It was her first try at the Tri-County Spelling Bee and Robertson, who said she has done spelling bees since the third grade, promised she will be back.
“I will go as far as I can,” she said.
FAST FACTS: There were 36 students competing — 12 each from Richland, Crawford and Morrow counties. The youngest was Anique DiLorenzo, a fourth-grader from Highland. She lasted until the fifth round, finishing in the top four.
Four students went out in the first round, five in the second, eight in the third, 15 in the fourth round and two in the fifth round. In that fateful fourth round, 11 consecutive students misspelled words as the competition got tougher.
Natalie Holmes, a seventh-grade student at Lexington Junior High, was second among 53 contestants in the Richland County Spelling Bee. She went out in the fourth round on Thursday evening, missing on the word “eschew.”
Rachel Teynor, a seventh grader from Colonel Crawford Local Schools, was the Crawford County Spelling Bee winner in January. She went out in the third round at the Tri-County event, missing the word, “sirloin.”
