Following the Scripps: Polo sixth-grader earns third straight trip to national bee

DIXON – If only sixth-grader Rebekah Zeigler didn’t know what she knew, earning her third straight trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday wouldn’t have been so grueling.

The Aplington middle-schooler was all too familiar with Lydia Cermak, the eighth-grader from David L. Rahn Junior High in Mount Morris, whom she had to outlast 2 years ago.

Worse yet was knowing the unknown was lurking: Any moment, emcee Tom Wadsworth could have run out of the 1,500 words the competitors are privy to in advance of the Lee-Ogle Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee. That happened last year, and he was forced to go off the list.

“I was very, very close, within a few rounds of losing all the words on the spelling list,” Wadsworth said. “I didn’t think we’d trip up either of these girls. They were so good.”

“It was awful wondering,” Rebekah said. “I was so nervous. I kept moving and getting water. It was just awful.”

Meanwhile, Lydia confidently stepped up the mic each round and rattled off each spelling as she scribbled it on her right thigh with her right hand.

While other competitors routinely asked for words’ definitions and language origins – and rightfully so – Lydia declined virtually every round.

Sure, she and Rebekah exchange nods and smiles – especially when Rebekah was given the word Borzoi, with which she won in 2015 – but Lydia’s confidence was unnerving.

“That makes me nervous,” Rebekah said.

Lydia was as prepared as ever. This was her last shot, and she missed out on the regional bee last year when she didn’t study up enough and misspelled hoity-toity.

“I was like, ‘Whoa! What is that?’” Lydia said.

“That’s a pretty wacky word,” Rebekah said.

So is mandir, to most, including Lydia and Wadsworth. He mispronounced it, and she misspelled it, he misheard her misspelling, and thank goodness the judges were paying staunch attention.

“For me, this event isn’t humbling, it’s humiliating,” Wadsworth said. “I should be pronouncing these words right. I practice them in advance, and I’ve got pronunciation marks in front of me. Then I screw it up, and the student gets it right, and no one else in the world knows these words – that’s how smart these kids are.”

With a trip back to Washington, D.C., on the line, in the 43rd round, Rebekah heard Wadsworth say jnana and giddily smiled and nodded before rattling it off.

No sweat, right Mom and Dad?

“She handles it better than I do,” said Rebekah’s mom, Alissa.

“You were shaking,” added her dad, Mark.

“I can’t watch. I look down,” Alissa admitted.

The 43 rounds broke the record of 38 set last year – the first year Whiteside County was included in the bee.

Miles Gordon, a Forreston Grade School fifth-grader, finished third – 14 rounds before Lydia finally bowed out.

With Rebekah’s victory, a girl has won the regional bee 16 of the past 19 years, and Ogle County students own 11 of the past 12 titles. Only two other people have won it three times: Karen Mini of Amboy Junior High School from 1985 to 1987 and Sarah Troutman of Etnyre School in Oregon then Black Hawk Junior High in Mount Morris, from 2000 to 2002.

Rebekah, who was the first fourth-grader to win the regional bee, has two shots to become the first to win four. Her next test, though, is getting through the written national test and onto TV.

She also made off Thursday with a 2017 U.S. mint proof set, an unabridged Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, and a 1-year online subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica. Lydia got a Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary, as well as a $75 Amazon gift card, and Miles got a $25 Amazon gift card.

Rebekah’s also a standout with Gymnastics Divine in Dixon, and plays hoops, volleyball, soccer and softball.

But even all that won’t prepare her for the  pressure she’ll face.

“She hasn’t had the opportunity to shoot a free throw with 2 seconds left in a tie game,” Mark said. “This is that kind of pressure, and maybe more.”

And then there’s a little extra peer pressure – the good kind, that is: the friend Rebekah made last year, Riley Hamp of Waynesboro, Virginia, who’s eager for a reunion.

“I told her not to be mad at me if I don’t win,” Rebekah said.

THEY ARE THE CHAMPIONS

While two spellers took front-and-center stage for the final 13 rounds of the 43-round Lee-Ogle-Whiteside Regional Spelling Bee, 37 spellers are already champions.

Here are the schools they attend, and at which they emerged as champions to qualify for the regional bee:

Adrian Ackert, St. Anne Catholic School (Dixon)

Jake Ackman, St. Mary Catholic School (Dixon), eighth grade

Javier Alvarado-Juarez, Central Elementary School (Rochelle), fifth grade

Taylor Brown, East Coloma-Nelson Elementary, seventh grade

Lydia Cermak, David L. Rahn Junior High School (Oregon), eighth grade

Joshua Conway, Centennial Elementary School (Polo), fifth grade

Karissa DuBois, Madison Elementary School, fifth grade

Owen Dunseth, Meridian Junior High School (Stillman Valley), sixth grade

Ryan Heuerman, St. Mary Catholic School (Sterling), eighth grade

Sammi Goldman, Amboy Junior High, eighth grade

Miles Gordon, Forreston Grade School, fifth grade

Laura Heuser, Christ Lutheran School, seventh grade

Austin Hochstein, AFC Elementary School, sixth grade

Joshua Howard, Montmorency Elementary School, eighth grade

Cameron Kopitas, Lincoln Elementary (Sterling), fifth grade

Celia Loeffelholz, Kings Elementary School, eighth grade

Annaleigh McKinney, May Elementary School (Rochelle), fifth grade

Ella McKinney, Rochelle Middle School, seventh grade

Natalie Mealing, Forreston Junior High School, sixth grade

Marlee Oros, Reagan Middle School (Dixon), seventh grade

Austen Payne, Rock Falls Middle School, sixth grade

Isaiah Phillips, Washington Elementary School, fifth grade

Schuyler Podolski, St. Paul Lutheran School (Rochelle), seventh grade

Shayne Prodzenski, Paw Paw Junior High, seventh grade

Brandon Rowe, Oregon Elementary School, sixth grade

Lilly Rudsinski, Monroe Center Grade School, fifth grade

Garrett Sage, AFC Junior High School, eighth grade

Skylar Savage, St. Andrew Catholic School (Rock Falls), eighth grade

Sadie Stickler, Byron Middle School, seventh grade

Lauren Steinhauer, Unity Christian School (Fulton), seventh grade

Paul Swartz, Steward Elementary School, sixth grade

Allison Taylor, Morrison Junior High School, seventh grade

Stella Tornabene, Tilton Elementary School (Rochelle), fifth grade

Shea Winters, Erie Middle School, seventh grade

Cale Workman, Lincoln Elementary School (Rochelle), fifth grade

Amy Zeigler, Challand Middle School (Sterling), eighth grade

Rebekah Zeigler, Aplington Middle School (Polo), sixth grade

WINNERS, YEAR BY YEAR

Year, Winner, School, Grade, Round

1974 – Claire Brandys, St. Anne Catholic School, N/A, N/A

1975 – Caroline Berrettini, St. Anne, N/A, N/A

1976 – Marni Berrettini, St. Anne, N/A, N/A

1977 – Melissa Foster, Ashton, 6th, N/A

1978 – Reagan Robbins, South Central, 6th, N/A

1979 – Danny Graettinger, St. Anne, 6th, N/A

1980 – Danny Graettinger, St. Anne, 7th, N/A

1981 – Danny Graettinger, St. Anne, 8th, N/A

1982 – Donna Stenzel, Amboy Junior High, 8th, N/A

1983 – Jackie Harrison, Amboy Junior, 8th, N/A

1984 – Julie Leffelman, Amboy Junior, 7th, N/A

1985 – Karen Mini, Amboy Junior, 6th, N/A

1986 – Karen Mini, Amboy Junior, 7th, 14

1987 – Karen Mini, Amboy Junior, 8th, 22

1988 – Julie Sandschafer, St. Anne, 6th, 10

1989 – Dara Phachantry, Ashton Middle, 8th, 18

1990 – Jamie Grennan, Amboy Junior, 7th, 28

1991 – David Anderson, St. Mary Catholic School, 8th, 30

1992 – Michelle Kosick, Franklin Center Junior High, 8th, 21

1993 – Julie Tilsy, Franklin Center Junior, 8th, 27

1994 – Bryan Freres, St. Anne, 7th, 19

1995 – Bryan Freres, St. Anne, 8th, 25

1996 – John Burkardt, St. Mary, 6th, 14

1997 – Keith Schonfelder, Franklin Center Junior, 8th, 19

1998 – John Burkardt, St. Mary, 8th, 25

1999 – Kelly Flessner, Amboy Junior, 7th, 16

2000 – Sarah Troutman, Etnyre School (Oregon), 6th, 14

2001 – Sarah Troutman, Black Hawk Junior High (Mount Morris), 7th, 20

2002 – Sarah Troutman, Black Hawk Junior, 8th, 24

2003 – Sarah Tate, Reagan Middle School, 8th, 10

2004 –  Gwen Larson, Franklin Center Junior, 8th, 14

2005 –  Cole Smith, Reagan Middle School, 7th, 12

2006 – Rachel Hendrickson, Black Hawk Junior, 8th, 28

2007 – Katelyn Voss, Home-schooled (Leaf River), 7th, 16

2008 – Katelyn Voss, Forreston Middle School, 8th, 26

2009 – Rachael Dickey, AFC Middle School, 8th, 14

2010 – Paige Myroth, Tilton School (Rochelle), 5th, 10

2011 – Paige Myroth, Rochelle Middle School, 6th, 11

2012 – Christopher Rademacher, Applington Middle School (Polo), 7th, 22

2013 – Christopher Rademacher, Applington Middle School (Polo), 8th, 22

2014 – Anna Snider, Forreston Junior High, 8th, 29

2015 – Rebekah Zeigler, Centennial Elementary, 4th, 28

*2016 – Rebekah Zeigler, Centennial Elementary, 5th, 38

2017 – Rebekah Zeigler, Aplington Middle, 6th, 43

* – First year Whiteside, Lee-Ogle regional bees merged