An embrace was what it took to win this year’s Superior School spelling bee.

In fact, “embrace” was the winning word among the 20 participants who gathered last week to see who was tops among the group of students in grades four through eight.

That word was spelled correctly by champion Liam Wheeler, an eighth-grader who now advances to the finals of the Mineral County Spelling Bee, which will be held this year in Alberton, Nov. 27 at 6 p.m.

Joining Wheeler in Alberton for the right to continue on in the competition for the best speller in the state is runner-up Olivia White, a fifth-grader at Superior Elementary.

Those two, along with the top four spellers from each grade will compete with spelling bee students from throughout the county for the right to move on.

Joining the champion and runner-up are: seventh graders Ava White and Ethan Durovey; sixth grade spellers Spencer Wolf, Kamryn Church, Lily Jasper and Zaimon Firestone; grade five students Penelope White, Elijah O’Neel and Maon Nakasone; and fourth graders Caleb Durovey, Thomas (TJ) Ostle, Ayla Henderson and Shaley Shope.

Lillie Raedel was named as an alternate for the Superior contingent.