St. Ignatius fourth grader Kysen Incashola almost won the Lake County Spelling Bee until he fumbled “aghast,” after precisely spelling “milligram.” Winners must spell two words in a row correctly.

The faux pas landed him back in the competition, which was ultimately won by Charlo fifth grader Apollonia Hall, who correctly spelled “cupidity” and “methane.” The competition was held last Tuesday, Feb. 6, at the St. Ignatius High School gym.

“It was quite an interesting bee,” said Lake County Superintendent of Schools Carolyn Hall, whose office coordinates the annual spell-offs. “The little guy went all the way to the championship word and then missed the second one.”

The eight finalists then returned to their seats to resume spelling. This time, Apollonia took first. Erianna Flat Lip, another Mission fifth grader, claimed second when she misspelled “erudition” in the 10th round. Mission fifth grader Boston Evans tied for third with Kysen in the seventh round. Boston lost out on “corroborate” and Kysen was foiled by “culpability.”

Apollonia heads to Bozeman March 9 for the State Spelling Bee, and Erianna is the alternate. Thirty-two kids from Arlee, Charlo and St. Ignatius participated in this year’s event.

    Mission fourth grader Kysen Incashola