photo by: Mike Yoder

Twenty-five participants prepare for the 2022 Douglas County Spelling Bee on Saturday, Feb. 5, at Southwest Middle School.

Liberty Memorial Central Middle School eighth-grader Eli Cokelet had never heard the word “judoka” before it came up in the final round of the Douglas County Spelling Bee. But that didn’t stop him from taking home the top prize.

Eli took first place in the bee, which returned to an in-person format Saturday in the Southwest Middle School auditorium after last year’s virtual competition. The bee is sponsored by the Journal-World and Ogden Newspapers of Kansas, and it included about two dozen contestants from elementary and middle schools around Douglas County.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Eli Cokelet, of Liberty Memorial Central Middle School, won the 2022 Douglas County Spelling Bee on Saturday, Feb. 5, by correctly spelling “judoka.” Olive Minor, background right, a student at West Middle School, was the 2nd place winner at the event, which was held at Southwest Middle School.

After he won, Eli told the Journal-World that he wasn’t familiar with the winning word — which means a judo expert — or many of the other words he was asked to spell in the contest.

“I had never heard of some of them,” he said. “I just sounded them out and was right.”

The bee stretched for more than two hours on Saturday, and Eli said he didn’t feel any pressure on the stage as the rounds piled up after the last intermission.

“I was OK because I wanted to finish in the top five or 10, so I had already accomplished my goal.” he said.

For a while, there was a deadlock among several contestants — Eli; Olive Minor, of West Middle School; Annie Perryman, of Corpus Christi Catholic School; Charlie Maples, of Bishop Seabury Academy; and Miles Perez, of Eudora Middle School.

photo by: Mike Yoder

The final five contestants compete in the 2022 Douglas County Spelling Bee on Saturday, Feb. 5, at Southwest Middle School. From left are Olive Minor, West Middle School; Charlie Maples, Bishop Seabury Academy; Annie Perryman, Corpus Christi Catholic School; Eli Cokelet, Liberty Memorial Central Middle School; and Miles Perez, Eudora Middle School.

Eventually, the bee ended with a multi-round duel between Eli and Olive, who finished as runner-up. After the bee, Eli praised Olive’s effort.

With his victory on Saturday, Eli earned the right to represent Douglas County at the Sunflower State Spelling Bee on March 26 at Newman University in Wichita.

“I won,” he said. “I’m excited about going to Wichita for the state finals.”

The other contestants in Saturday’s bee were: Johnny Geery, Raintree Montessori; Sabina Scott, Sunset Hill Elementary; Evan Love-Schaumburg, New York Elementary; Kinsley Scott, Baldwin Intermediate Center; Grant Britton, Deerfield Elementary; Afton Bartelson, Eudora Elementary; Eric Li, Langston Hughes Elementary; Savanna Tibbils, Sunflower Elementary; Kingston McCall, Broken Arrow Elementary; Isaiah Coborn, Baldwin Junior High School; Leo Dickey, Lawrence Virtual School; Akeila Young, Prairie Park Elementary; Adam Everhart, Veritas Christian School; Mohamed Aljizani, Schwegler Elementary; Colin Christline, Quail Run Elementary; Nico Stinson, Pinckney Elementary; Jaeah Kim; Cordley Elementary; Cy Colistra, Hillcrest Elementary; Kamryn Daniels, Billy Mills Middle School; and Torin Yung, Southwest Middle School.

photo by: Mike Yoder

Olive Minor, a student at West Middle School, was the runner-up at the 2022 Douglas County Spelling Bee, which was held Saturday, Feb. 5, at Southwest Middle School.