Pleasanton fifth-grader wins Linn County spelling bee

Pleasanton fifth-grader Angie Allen takes her turn in one of the final rounds of the Linn County Spelling Bee on Thursday, Feb. 8. Tyrus Chadwick, seated behind her, was runner up. (Photos by Roger Sims,/Linn County Journal except where noted.

Update: This version of the story published last week contains the two words Angie Allen spelled correctly to win the county title.

MOUND CITY – Pleasanton fifth-grader Angie Allen correctly spelled "Erlenmeyer flask" then "Copenhagen" to beat out 20 of Linn County’s best spellers and win the 2024 Linn County Spelling Bee. Eighth-grader Tyrus Chadwick from Jayhawk-Linn Junior High School was runner-up, and fifth-grader Ruby Davis from Jayhawk Elementary School was third.

Angie will go on to represent Linn County in the state spelling bee scheduled for Saturday, March 23, at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. In the event she is unable to attend, Tyrus will be the alternate.

The county bee was held on Thursday, Feb. 8, at Jayhawk Elementary School and featured students from the county’s four elementary schools and three middle-grade schools. Students from third grade through eighth grade were eligible to compete.

All of the contestants posed for a group shot after the spelling bee was completed.

Following a practice round of relatively easy words, judges got down to business. Words like “arable” and “bilge” saw the field of 21 contestants sliced down to 12. Six more fell to words like “insulin” and “sauna” in the second round, and after the third round, only Angie, Tyrus, and Ruby remained.

Ruby went out in round six, leaving Angie and Tyrus in a spell off in round seven, where Angie correctly spelled the final two words to win.

Angie, the daughter of Jay and Tana Allen, will compete against the top spellers from 65 counties at the state tournament. Tana Allen said that her daughter doesn’t really study words, but she loves to read and write and that’s how she knows how to spell so many words.

Contestants from Jayhawk USD 346 district schools include, from left, Tyrus Chadwick, Ryland Summers, Adryn Randall, Ruby Dennis, Hazel Vaughn, and Corbyn Thomas. Adryn, Ruby, and Corbyn are from Jayhawk Elementary and the other three are from Jayhawk Junior High.

Somer Spurgeon, from left, Aria Hale, and Grace Moylan are contestants from La Cygne Elementary School.

Pleasanton Elementary's Angie Allen, from left, Jamie Sullins, and Olivia Wisdom represented their school at the spell-off.

Parker Elementary contestants included, from left, Henry Britz, Kora Stainbrook, and Otis Hampton.

Pleasanton Junior High School spellers include, from left, Wesley Hayes, Brendyn Workman and Colton Brown. (Submitted photo)

Prairie View Middle School students, from left Blake Stevenson, Chylar Jones, and Aleena Miller represented their school in the spelling bee.