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Superb spellers: Knoll, Cahoon advance to State spelling bee

Issue Date: 3/14/2012
Last Updated: 8/19/2013 2:28:20 PM | By Mike Moore  

RONAN – It took 11 rounds and 89 words to do it, but Ronan seventh-grader Elijah Cahoon emerged as the Lake County Spelling Bee champion after conquering his counterparts from the area’s public, private and home schools March 6 at the Ronan Performing Arts Center.

“It was my first time (in the bee),” Cahoon said. “I was pretty nervous, but I had high expectations.”

A field of 50 students anxiously rustled in their chairs as the lights dimmed and the competition began. To advance to the next round, students had one shot to correctly spell the word given to them. The group of 50 was whittled down to 19 after the first round, and only four remained at the beginning of the third.

Polson sixth-grader Cheyenne S. O’Connor was eliminated in the fourth round after misspelling “access.” Fellow Polson student Matt Sitter was taken out in the sixth round after misspelling “tragic.”

This began the arduous battle between Cahoon and Arlee seventh-grader T.J. Knoll. The two went back and forth for three rounds before the word “dearth” stumped Knoll in round 10. Cahoon successfully spelled ventilate, and sealed the deal by spelling hinterland in round 11.

To prepare for the bee, Cahoon says he put in his fair share of study time after school, spending up to an hour a day studying words.

“I’m very proud of him,” mother Mary Cahoon said. “We drilled him (at home) and it obviously paid off; we couldn’t stump him.”

Both Cahoon and Knoll advance to the State Spelling Bee in Billings on March 24. Third-place finisher Matt Sittler will serve as an alternate speller.

“I’m going to step it up even more now (for State),” Cahoon said.

Despite finishing second, Knoll was more than excited about advancing to State.

“I’m pretty thrilled,” he said. “I’m happy I get to go to State. I practiced the last two days really hard.”