Claymont student to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee
Logan Cox is no stranger to competition.
He loves the thrill of the battle, and he'll be in one from May 26-31 when he compete among 245 of the country’s best spellers in 96th Scripps National Spelling Bee at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at the National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland.
Headed for D.C.: Uhrichsville speller wins Repository spelling bee, heads to Scripps event
Competition is so important, he hasn't stopped while preparing for the national bee, taking part May 10 in a math competition at Buckeye Career Center. In addition to academics, the 14-year-old Urichsville resident plays the tuba and loves video games.
“I was not expecting to win (the Canton Repository Regional Final spelling bee, on March 23), but I did,” said the Claymont Middle School eighth-grader. “I hope I’ll at least get to round two (at nationals). I’m sure it’ll be fun.”
Cox's winning word at Canton's bee at Kent State University at Stark was PENDULOUS.
The winner of Scripps' bee will receive the Scripps Cup, a commemorative medal, and $50,000.
Viewers can watch the televised event on Ion. Check the box for details on viewing and when spellers are on stage.
Cox is sponsored by The Canton Repository, the sister paper of The Times Reporter, which also is owned by Gannett.
“I’ve always just been really good at spelling,” said Cox, the son of Jeff Cox and Dawn Cox. “I also like to read.”
Cox is reading a 586-page book called "Exile From the Keeper of the Lost Cities" from a series by Shannon Messenger.
“My favorite genre is fantasy,” he said. “I read about a book a week.”
Mom Dawn Cox said she wasn’t surprised when Logan first won the Claymont Middle School spelling bee.
“He’s always been very intelligent, and when he speaks, he uses very big words,” Dawn Cox said. “But I was definitely surprised that he did win the regional. It was very exciting to be there and watch.”
Dawn Cox, who works as an registered nurse, said some of the words in the regional bee were "ridiculously hard." And some she’d never heard.
“One of the competitors, I was spelling in my head with him, and I thought, ‘Shoot he got it wrong,’ but nope, it was me,” she said with a laugh. “But Logan did amazing.”
She said Logan’s two older brothers − Owen, who attends Claymont High School, and Dawson, who is in college − are similarly intelligent, and good readers and writers.
“When Logan won, he was excited to tell his brothers, because neither one of them had made it that far,” she said.She said seeing Logan on stage competing gave her hope for a national championship win.
“I think there’s a chance,” she said.
Logan Cox isn't ruling it out. In addition to loving the thrill of competition, there’s one other thing he truly enjoys about these contests: “I love winning.”
What to know
WHAT – 96TH Scripps National Spelling Bee
WHERE – Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland
WHEN – Bee Week runs Sunday through Friday, and competition is Tuesday through Thursday. Spellers are on stage for preliminary rounds from 8 a.m. to 7:40 p.m. Tuesday; from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Wednesday for the quarterfinal round; and 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Wednesday for the semifinals. The finals will be 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday night.
ON TV – All spelling rounds will be broadcast on Ion TV networks. All day Tuesday and Wednesday’s morning rounds will be on the ION-Plus network. Spelling on Wednesday and Thursday nights will be broadcast on ION TV.
PROCESS – Spellers will compete Tuesday in Rounds 1 and 2. For Round 1, they’ll be required to spell a word. If they spell correctly, they will then face a Round 2 vocabulary word. If they also get that right, they’ll move on to Wednesday morning competition in the quarterfinal. If they spell their word correctly, they’ll move to competition on Wednesday night. If they’re among the final 10 to 12 spellers remaining in the competition after Wednesday’s rounds, they’ll be part of the finals on Thursday night. The survivor that night will be declared the Scripps champion.
SPELLER BREAKDOWN – There are 245 spellers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The Canton Repository’s representative is Logan Cox, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Claymont Middle School in Tuscarawas County. Ohio has 17 spellers competing, with eight girls and nine boys. Texas has the most spellers, with 20. California is tied with Ohio’s 17, and Florida, Illinois and New York each have 13.
ABOUT LOGAN – The Canton Repository’s speller, Logan Cox, will be speller No. 166 in the competition. This year, Scripps has returned to grouping state spellers in the competition, so they’re on stage at the same time. For several years, the order of spellers was done randomly. Follow along with the bee on Twitter, where the Scripps National Spelling Bee officials give a speller-by-speller report on the bee's progress. Use the hashtag #speller166 to follow Logan's progress.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Claymont student Logan Cox heads to Scripps National Spelling Bee
