By allowing ads to appear on this site, you support the local businesses who, in turn, support great journalism.
CASTING A 'SPELL'
Wicoff wins her second Sunflower Bee
new deh spelling bee winner web
Clara Wicoff of Iola spells her way to her second Sunflower Spelling Bee championship Saturday afternoon in the Barton Community College Fine Arts Auditorium. Previously, she won the 2009 contest. - photo by Dale Hogg/Great Bend Tribune
Allen County spelling champion Clara Wicoff correctly spelled "geriatrician" Saturday to win the Great Bend Tribune’s 2011 Sunflower Spelling Bee. Wicoff, a seventh grader from Iola, won the spell-down in 2009, and this year she outlasted 2010 winner Matthew Wegner from Parsons and 79 other contestants. Wegner and Barton County’s Allison Regehr made it to the final nine, but by Round 7 there were only four remaining contestants: Wicoff, Zach Barrow from Wichita, Celia Hack from Fairway and Aaron Merriman from Andover.