Pope John Student Wins Antelope County Spelling Bee

Brianna Hupp, an eighth grade student at Elgin Pope John, outlasted the other competitors in the Antelope County Spelling Bee today.

The annual spelling bee was held in the American Legion Hall in Neligh and was hosted by Neligh-Oakdale School this year. The fifth and sixth grade contest was held first, followed by the junior high division. The winner of the seventh and eighth grade contest is eligible to advance to the state level.

PHOTO -  Placing in the 7th & 8th division were (front row) Brianna Hupp, first and Ashley Williams, second; and (back row) Hunter Reestman, third; Logan Henn, fourth and Nikki Payne, fifth.

Hupp now has the opportunity to compete in the Midwest Spelling Bee in Omaha. The contest is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, March 15 in the Omaha Public School Teacher Administration Building.

Ashley Williams, a student at Clearwater-Orchard School, went word for word with Hupp for five rounds, and ended up taking second place. "Auxiliary" was the winning word in the competition.

Those placing in the seventh and eighth grade contest were:
1. Brianna Hupp, Pope John, 2. Ashley Williams, Clearwater-Orchard, 3. Logan Henn, Pope John, 4. Hunter Reestman, Elgin Public and Nikki Payne, Pope John.

After three written rounds, the field of contestants was narrowed down to eight students in the fifth and sixth grade division. About 20 oral rounds later, Alyssa Moser, a student at St. Boniface Elementary in Elgin, was named the top 5th and 6th grade speller.

Joe Reisdorff of Clearwater-Orchard was named runner up in the competition. "Tedious" was the winning word in the elementary contest.

Fifth and sixth graders placing in the spelling bee were:
1. Alyssa Moser, St. Boniface, 2. Joe Reisdorff, Clearwater-Orchard, 3. Lauren Behnk, Clearwater-Orchard, 4. Nadia Peinke, Neligh-Oakdale, 5. Hailey Bixler, Neligh-Oakdale, 6. Griffin Claussen, Neligh-Oakdale, 7. Faith Kinney, St. Boniface and 8. Skylar Reestman, Elgin Public.

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PHOTO - Placing in the fifth and sixth grade spelling contest were (front row) Alyssa Moser, first; Joe Reisdorff, second and Lauren Behnk, third; and (back row) Nadia Peinke, fourth; Griffin Claussen, sixth; Faith Kinney, seventh; and Skylar Reestman, eighth. Not pictured is Hailey Bixler, fifth.