Morris spells "insufferable" to win county spelling bee

Two of the youngest competitors came out on top during the Jackson County Spelling Bee last week, which was hosted by Jackson Heights.

Holton fifth-grader Owen Morris won the spelling bee after successfully spelling the word “insufferable.” Paige Holthaus, a fifth-grader at Jackson Heights, took second place. A total of 10 spellers competed in the bee.

Morris, who is the son of Jared and Katie Morris, will now compete at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee set for Saturday, March 23, at Kansas Wesleyan University in Salina. Holthaus will serve as the alternate. 

The winner of state spelling will earn an all-expense paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. this summer.

The Jackson County Spelling Bee was held in the band/choir room at Jackson Heights High School and featured the top fifth through eighth-grade spellers from Jackson Heights, Holton and Royal Valley. 

After the first two rounds of competition, six of the 10 spellers were eliminated. By round six, only Morris and Holthaus remained.

The two fifth-graders battled head-to-head for four rounds until Morris correctly spelled “malicious” and “insufferable” back-to-back to win.  

For more on this and other stories, please log in to your holtonrecorder.net account and select “Feb. 28, 2024” under E-Editions.