Bellefontaine Middle School eighth-grader Blakely Vollrath correctly spelled “ocelot” to become the champion of the school’s spelling bee Wednesday, Dec. 4.
Classmate Holland Hower was runner-up.
A total of 31 students in grades 6-8 competed in the bee, which went for 20 rounds in the school library.
Both Blakely and Holland have qualified for the Logan County Spelling Bee at the Holland Theatre at 6 p.m. Jan. 14.
Blakely will also take an online spelling and vocabulary test to advance toward the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Blakely is a daughter of Ben and Jacey Vollrath, and Holland is a daughter of Julia Hower and Jason Hower.
Lindy Martin was the moderator at BMS. Stephanie Fissel and Angie Horvath were the judges.