Scripps Spelling Bee 2018: Meet The Missouri Spellers

MISSOURI — More than 500 spellers will take part in 2018’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, which officially kicked off Tuesday in Maryland. Of the 519 participants taking part in the annual competition, 15 are from Missouri.

The preliminary rounds take place Tuesday and Wednesday and the finals will be held on Thursday, May 31. On Tuesday and Wednesday, you can watch the Bee on ESPN 3. For the finals, tune into ESPN 2 from 10 a.m. - 2p.m. eastern for Part 1 and for Part 2, tune into ESPN at 8:30 p.m eastern.

The preliminaries consist of a multiple choice test and two rounds of spelling onstage, known as round 2 and round 3 respectively, Scripps explains. Spellers are eliminated for spelling incorrectly in either of the onstage rounds. After rounds 2 and 3, no more than 50 spellers head to the finals. (Read the full competition rules here.)

Here are the Missouri spellers taking part in the competition:

• Liam Hahn. #210 — Rolla, Mo.
• Sophia Nguyen — Saint Joseph, Mo.
• Brayden Armes, #225 — Fredericktown, Mo.
• Natalie Burnett, #234 — Saint Joseph, Mo.
• Lauren Holsapple, #235 — Jefferson City, Mo.
• Alice Liu, #242 — Chesterfield, Mo.
• Ryan Smith, #244 — Ballwin, Mo.
• Joshua Roodhouse Hale, #245 — St. Peters, Mo.
• Alecia McCulley, #259 — Florissant, Mo.
• Brady Hughes, #272 — Pleasant Hill, Mo.
• Kael Miranda, #284 — Columbia, Mo.
• Mollie Miner, #286 — Sedalia, Mo.
• Rohan Roa, #303 — Columbia, Mo.
• Delaney Nash, #310 — Kansas City, Mo.
• Joseph Benson, #311 — Kansas City, Mo.

Check back with Patch and we’ll keep you updated with how the Missouri spellers perform.

And if you’re curious about whether you have what it takes to compete in the Bee, you can take the preliminaries test to find out.

Photo: Local speller Alecia McCulley (Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee)