Immanuel Lutheran 5th grader wins regional spelling bee

An Immanuel Lutheran Mankato 5th grader spelled down 20 other students Thursday to win a trip to nationals.

Elijah Elledge was named champion of the South Central Service Cooperative Regional Spelling Bee, which is a qualifier for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Elledge, who took 1st place after 13 rounds, was awarded a trophy, one-year subscriptions to Encyclopedia Britannica Online and Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, a mint proof set, and travel expenses to the National Spelling Bee in Washinton, D.C., which will be held in late May.

Brielle Brown, an 8th grader at Maple River Schools took 2nd place.  Brown was last year’s regional champion.

In third place was Madelyn Ryan from Tri-City United Schools.

Spelling bee rules dictate that the words used during the regional bee cannot be released.

The 21 students who competed at South Central College Thursday all won their local bees.

The remaining spellers placed as follows:

4th (tie) – Max Budin, Most Holy Redeemer School
Ashlynn Simon, Comfrey Public School
5th – Ayman Reza, Bridges Community School
6th (tie) – Lucy Koch , Granada Huntley East Chain
Isabelle Penner, Mountain Lake Public School
7th (tie) – Avery Fischer, New Ulm Area Catholic Schools
Gisele McCabe, Loyola Catholic School
Mercy Williams, Fairmont Jr./Sr. High School
8th (tie) – AnnaBelle Dilworth, KATO Public Charter School
Brea Ervin, Fairmont Elementary School
Arianna Guerra, Sleepy Eye Public Schools
Hudson Miller, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton
Anya Stoll, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran
9th (tie) – Aimee Aleman, St. James Middle School
Hudson Clayton, St. John Vianney School
Tarynn Hohenstein, Truman School District
Hadley Thompson, Cleveland Public Schools