Speller follows brother to bee victory
Apr. 30—Alex Yosef had to settle for third place when his older brother won the 2023 Eastern Oklahoma Spelling Bee.
This year, it was Alex's turn to place first. He won the 2024 Spelling Bee, held Friday at Boulevard Christian Church.
Hilldale Middle School eighth-grader Jenna Varner placed second. Muldrow Middle School sixth-grader Aniston Moore placed third.
After Jenna and Aniston misspelled words, Alex correctly spelled "orchard" and "shrieval" to take first. Shrieval means "pertaining to a sheriff."
Alex, an eighth-grader at St. Joseph Catholic School, won $1,000 for his school, plus $500 for himself for winning the bee.
"He's been studying, and studying and studying," bee director Susan Hoog said. "His brother did the same thing last year. That never happened."
In 2023, Ethan Yosef went 33 rounds against Allison Martin of Pryor before both were declared first-place winners. Alex, then in seventh-grade, placed third.
To win this year's spelling bee, Alex said he studied between 30 minutes and a full hour each day for four months.
"I either read or got tested by my mother or dad," he said.
Alex said his hardest word this year was Flemish, meaning a person who lives in the region of Flanders.
"I thought there were two Ms, but I trusted my gut that there was one, so I did that," he said.
After Alex secured first, Jenna and Aniston spelled for second place. Jenna misspelled "beleaguer." Then Aniston misspelled "Hollandaise." Jenna correctly spelled "pecan."
Aniston then faced a word that continues to vex spellers: "opossum." She spelled out the common alternate, "possum." The bee judges declared that spelling "incorrect."
Jenna then correctly spelled "chintz."
Jenna said placing second this year was really awesome.
"I did two other bees," she said. "The first year I got out early. The second year I got out halfway, so winning second place is great. This year, I just mainly tried to study harder."
