MANSFIELD — Lyla Maniaci emerged from Thursday night’s competition as the queen bee.
Rather, the Lucas 7th grader was the Queen of the Bee. Actually, Maniaci was crowned Richland County Spelling Bee champion.
The 2025-2026 Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center spelling bee season is off to an impressive start. The Richland County Bee took place on Thursday night with 42 students from nine districts competed to be crowned champion of the bee.
The bee lasted over two and a half hours until a champion and runner-up could be determined.
Spelling took place for 15 rounds until Maniaci, from the Lucas Local School District, became the champion by spelling the word “judicious.”
The runner-up was Elianna Kelley, an 8th grader from Crestview Local Schools.
The Mid-Ohio ESC spelling bee season includes the Crawford/Morrow County Virtual Spelling Bee, The Richland County Virtual Spelling Bee and the Tri-County Spelling Bee.
Top performers from the Crawford/Morrow County Spelling Bee and Richland County Spelling Bee will advance to the Tri-County Spelling Bee on Thursday, February 19 at 6:30 p.m.
Spectators are invited to attend.
Colleen Haynes, the spelling bee coordinator for Mid-Ohio ESC, was impressed by the opening of the competition.
“Thank you to all participating schools for supporting the Richland County bee with your participation,” Haynes said. “In addition to strengthening vocabulary and word knowledge, the competitions boost confidence and resilience by giving students a supportive setting to set goals, cope with pressure and celebrate progress.”