Sélah Sutton of MacArthur Middle School outlasted 24 other champion spellers Saturday to capture the title at the 34th annual Anne Arundel County Spelling Bee.
Sélah correctly spelled the word “annihilate” in the 11th round to win the championship. Jackson Olexy of Crofton Middle School finished second and Cassandra White of Severn River Middle School was third.
The county bee, held in person this year, is presented annually by the Anne Arundel County Public Schools Office of Secondary Reading, English, & Integrated Literacy. This year’s presenting sponsor was Development Facilitators, Inc. (DFI). The event sponsors were Educational Systems Federal Credit Union, BGE, Comcast, DALY Computers, M&T Bank, and Horace Mann. The champion sponsors for this year were American College of Education, JMT, and Whiting Turner.
Sélah will represent Anne Arundel County in the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.
Also competing in this year’s bee were:
- Annapolis Middle School: Audrey Yankus
- Arundel Middle School: Gavin Dean-St. Clair
- Brooklyn Park Middle School: Briana Hathaway
- Central Middle School: Calvin Henggeler
- Chesapeake Bay Middle School: Odin Arnell
- Corkran Middle School: Addison Simmons
- Indian Creek School: Isabelle Sussman
- Lindale Middle School: Uwaezoke Ihechi
- Magothy River Middle School: Gautham Thangaavel
- Marley Middle School: Chloe Smith
- Meade Middle School: Gavin Lacey
- Monsignor Slade Catholic School: London Smith
- Northeast Middle School: Hailey Scott
- Old Mill Middle School North: Jacob Urban-Davis
- Old Mill Middle School South: Liam Smith
- Severn School: Lottie Morgan
- Severna Park Middle School: Reid Bergstrom
- St. Anne’s School of Annapolis: Jameson Cutler
- St. Martin Lutheran School: Denis Hein
- St. Paul’s Lutheran School: Julian Weisman
- Southern Middle School: Lillian Martin
- Wiley H. Bates Middle School: Jeannette Manseau
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a not-for-profit educational promotion sponsored by The E.W. Scripps Company in conjunction with businesses and community organizations around the world. Each sponsor organizes a spelling bee program in its community with the cooperation of area school officials: private, charter, parochial, public, and home schools.
Above: From left, second-place finisher Jackson Olexy, champion Sélah Sutton, and third-place finisher Cassandra White.