Competition was fierce during Friday afternoon's Butler County Spelling at Butler Community College.
Kids from all over the county gathered to face-off and find out who had the stuff to win the top prize and spell
like a champ.
The event began at 1 p.m. with introductions of Judges Helen Wagner and Rachel Ayers.
Larry Patton, dean of liberal arts, was announcing.
The bee began with a practice round that allowed for parents to photograph contestants and the first official round took two from the flock.
The spelling prodigies battled for more than an hour and were whittled down to only the brightest few.
The competition yielded the top three Butler County spellers who will go on to finals in Great Bend.
"Any one of the finalist could win and go on to compete on the national level," said Micaela Ayers, host.
Elizabeth Waldrip, a student at USD 385 and Sunflower Elementary beat the competition to be placed as
second runner up and first runner up was Cameron Courtney of Marvin Sisk Middle School, USD 396.
First place went to Danny Martin of Flinthills Middle School, USD 492.
