The third time was the charm for Pine Bluffs Junior High School seventh grader, Lanie Wallowing Bull. In her third appearance at the Laramie County Spelling Bee Wallowing Bull was the last student standing giving her a nice piece of hardware to carry home and a ticket to the state bee in Laramie in March.
With participants successfully spelling words like "asthmogenic," "monotonous," and "subterfuge" one would think the county’s top spellers had been practicing at least since the beginning of the school year. Not so, said Wallowing Bull.
"We’ve been studying since around the beginning of February," she said. "I studied every day after school for about an hour-and-a-half or two hours."
On occasion she put some time in at home as well, all in an effort to continue the improvement shown from her fifth to sixth grade years.
"In fifth grade I didn’t get past the written (test)," Wallowing Bull said. "In sixth grade I made it to the oral round but not to placing."
A touch of nervousness might be expected but Wallowing Bull said her nerves were calm compared to her first year at the bee.
Students participating in the spelling bee first compete at their local school. The top spellers there advance to the county contest. Students at the county bee are first put through a written round of spelling. The students with the highest scores advance to the oral round, where they take turns spelling in front of groups of their peers, parents and teachers.
This year’s announcer was Paul Gibson. Gibson led the students through five rounds before telling the spellers still standing there would be a sudden death round to determine who the top five spellers were. When all was said and done, Wallowing Bull emerged the winner.
Now comes her next challenge, preparing for the state spelling bee.
"I’ll start studying this week," she said. "I’ll study with Tiffany Oakes. She was the alternate and she came with me (to the Laramie County bee)."
Asked how she thinks she’ll do at the state bee, Wallowing Bull said, "I’m hoping I’ll do good, at least place."
Competition will take place at the University of Wyoming on March 13. She will take the stage there with Laramie County’s second place finisher Kari Batey from Carey Junior High School and Erynne Tarbuck of Pioneer Park Elementary School who took third place.
Wyoming’s top speller will represent the state at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in June in Washington, D.C.
