By ALLISON WOOD

The Post staff writer

For many competitors at the Medina County Spelling Bee, learning the correct pronunciation of the word they were given was the bigger challenge than actually spelling it.

Whether the student had never heard of the word before or it was from another language, the ones who came out on top were able to overcome this and get it right anyway.

A total of 46 students in sixth- through eighth-grades from all of the county's school districts except Black River gathered at Medina High School Feb. 1 for the annual contest, sponsored by the Medina County Educational Service Center.

Since the bee determined who would advance to the regional contest in Akron, there were six total winners, who hailed from five different school districts. The students finished on top at spelling bees held at their home schools, which included both public and parochial schools.

To advance in the county bee, the students had to overcome nerves of having the entire audience watching them stand on center stage while hoping they know they word they are given and that it is the correct one.

One girl received the buzzer of elimination after she spelled the word "correspondents" instead of the given word "correspondence."

Other words that tripped up the students in the earlier rounds included "accrued," "feign," "frivolous," and "behemoth."

It was obvious that some had no idea what they word they were given actually meant, with many asking for the definition and use in a sentence before taking a stab at it. Some were more successful than others.

Looking totally confused, eventual winner Zach Porter of Wadsworth somehow was able to get out the letters to the word "circumlocution" correctly.

By around the fourth round, only about 10 spellers were left, with many being asked to spell non-English words, such as poi (Hawaiian), bolero (Spaniish), bambino (Italian) and hibachi (Japanese).

While these spellings were easier than some of the earlier words, less of the students appeared to have heard them before.

Since six were to advance, the three top spellers who were eliminated got to compete for two remaining spots since four won outright.

The winners included Hannah Hasan, eighth-grade, Brunswick's Edwards Middle School; Sunny Levine, eighth-grade, Medina's Claggett Middle School; Kaci Dobbins, eighth-grade, Cloverleaf Middle School; Daniel Johnson, seventh-grade, Wadsworth's Sacred Heart School; Porter, eighth-grade, Wadsworth Middle School; and Chris Wright, seventh-grader, Highland Middle School.

Porter said there were a few words that really stumped him, but after taking a second to think, he got them right, except for one.

"I figured it out," he said, adding that the word he missed, "geisha," was the one that confused him the most.

Porter, along with Johnson, were the two spellers that missed but won after being brought back in the last round.

While some winners said this was their first time competing at the county bee, Levine is a seasoned winner who has made it to the National Spelling Bee twice and last year made it to the semifinal round.

This will be her last year competing since she is eighth-grade this year.

Levine said even if she knows the word, she will ask for either a definition or language origin from the announcer before beginning in order to calm herself down and be fully prepared.

The spellers are able to study potential words with a book of approved words given out by the organization that sponsors the national bee.

The winners will next compete at the Akron Beacon Journal Regional Bee on Saturday, March 10 at the Akron-Summit County Public Library. This competition also includes students from Summit, Portage and Wayne counties.

The winner of that contest will advance to the national bee, which will be held near Washington, D.C. in early June.