Meagher is spelling bee champ

"S-C-O-U-N-D-R-E-L". As he spelled out all the letters correctly, Minneota seventh-grader Ryan Meagher was declared the winner of the local spelling bee contest on Thursday morning at the public school.

Meagher will now advance to the regional competition on Feb. 4 in Redwood Falls. Twenty students in grades 5-8 participated in the spelling bee. Leo Hennen came in second place. Both Meagher and Hennen were awarded a trophy for their accomplishments.

Meagher did not compete in last year's spelling bee because he was gone that day. But he placed third in the competition two years ago. "The word that knocked me out two years ago was 'sparsely'," he said.

"And I will always remember how to spell it from now on." When Meagher heard what the final word was for the spelling bee, he felt a sense of confidence that he could spell scoundrel.

"I had a pretty good idea how to spell the final word this year when I heard it," Meagher revealed. "After I wrote it on the paper in front of me, I knew it was correct." The competitors are not given a list of words to study prior to the contest.

"All the words are a surprise," Meagher said. So how did this young man become such a good speller?

"From reading a lot and paying attention to all the words I read," he said.