Iola seventh-grader Luke Wicoff is this year’s Allen County Spelling Bee champion. Wicoff, shown with Bowlus Director Susan Raines, entered the winner’s circle after correctly spelling the word “lassitude.” The win lands Wicoff a spot at the state bee in March. Lincoln Elementary’s sharp-witted third-grader Kinsey Jelinek is this year’s runner-up. Here are just a few of the many words hurled at this area’s finest sesquipedalians. Here, Reader — try a few out on your spouse: “treacherous,” “chinchilla,” “conspicuous,” “requisites,” “tempestuous,” and “pastrami”; “generalissimo,” “monsieur,” “atrocity,” “quantum,” “crampon,” “stevedores,” “dragoons,” “monomania,” “proviso,” “tapirs,” “uncoquettish,” “Seminole,” “crematoria,” “peroxide,” “amputation,” “reservoir,” “sphinx.,” “azalea” and “Sherpa.” REGISTER/RICK DANLEY
