On November 4th, Roncalli students from the Spell Bowl team competed in the Area Competition, a challenging event that tested the spelling capabilities of 10 spellers: Tamanna Singh, Tessa Mize, Charlie O’Brien, Chris Jerry, Scout Marien, Far Iang, Anna Cromer, Eva Aguayo, Marygrace Rykowski, and Evie Eble, who helped keep score during the event.
This year’s competition came with its own set of obstacles after a team mostly made up of seniors graduated last year. Finding enough students to compete was challenging.
“It was difficult to find enough people who were interested in competing this year,” junior Rykowski said, “But we managed to find a few last-minute recruits, and they performed very well.”
Despite the last-minute additions, the team worked together and achieved strong results. Their hard work and determination paid off when they took first place in the competition.
“The words chosen at the Area Competition were much harder than we expected,” Rykowski said, “But I am still very proud of our score and placement.”
Individually, the team also saw impressive performances. Junior Eva Aguayo earned a near-perfect score, and Marygrace herself received a perfect score.
“Spell Bowl is a difficult extracurricular, and I am so grateful for my teammates and their dedication to studying a list of over two thousand words,” Rykowski said.
Beyond the challenging obstacles, the experience also highlighted the importance of teamwork.
“Most importantly, everyone has been so supportive of each other, and there are so many people who have helped our team grow from two to eleven members,” Rykowski said. Her appreciation for her teammates and their efforts was clear, as the team’s success was as much about friendship as it was about spelling.
