By Bob Strohm
bstrohm@wbcowqel.com
Galion Middle School can lay claim to having the best speller in the county after Caleb Strack outlasted 31 other students in the 2016 Crawford County Spelling Bee.
Strack won the spelling bee by correctly spelling the word extrapolate. Bucyrus City Schools’ seventh grader Alex Wion finished as the runner-up after the 12th round of the spelling bee.
Strack, a Galion Middle School eighth grader, explained what was going through his mind as he was spelling the final word.
“I was super nervous, super excited, like a whole bunch of emotions all at once, just like going,” Strack said. “I came up to spell my word and I got it right, and I was really over-excited.”
To prepare for the spelling bee Strack studied the lists of words given to competitors for a few weeks prior to the event. Strack also said that he reads daily.
Strack will be one of 12 students representing Crawford County at the Tri-County Spelling Bee. Jayleen Spaulding of Buckeye Central, Allison Fraser, Genner Hofer, Malia Posey, and Alex Wion of Bucyrus, Macie Dicus and Hope Sharp of Colonel Crawford, Hannah Daniels and Regin Kuehlman of Galion, Max Phillips of St. Bernard’s, and Cassandra Kurek of Wynford will be joining Strack at at the Tri-county Spelling Bee..
After the championship round was completed 10 students who were eliminated in the fourth round returned to try and claim the final three spots representing Crawford County at the Tri-County bee. In the end it was Gunner Hofer, Malia Posey, and Hannah Daniels outlasting the seven other students.
The Tri-County Spelling Bee will take place at 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 11 at the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center.