Addison Hughes spells way to more success in recent regional bee

Wednesday, March 27, 2013
Taking runner-up honors for the second consecutive year in the Wabash Valley Regional Spelling Bee was Greencastle Middle School sixth-grader Addison Hughes, son of Adam and Beverly Hughes of Greencastle.

TERRE HAUTE -- Suffice it to say, young Addison Hughes knows how to spell success.

For the third time in three years, the Greencastle youngster has emerged as one of the top two spellers in the Wabash Valley, finishing second among 23 elementary and middle school area contestants Saturday at Sarah Scott Middle School in Terre Haute.

After winning the 2011 Wabash Valley Regional Spelling Bee, Hughes has come oh-so-close to a repeat, having been thwarted twice in having to settle for the runner-up spot each of the past two years.

So technically, Hughes' spelling bee prowess has seen no real metamorphosis. And while such consistency stands as an amazing accomplishment for an 11-year-old with three major spelling bee successes on his young resume, it was the very word metamorphosis that tripped him up on Saturday.

Now a sixth-grader at Greencastle Middle School after winning the local title as a South Putnam Central Elementary fourth-grader in 2011, Hughes misfired on metamorphosis, incorrectly spelling it as "metamorphisis."

That opened the door for eventual winner Kimmie Collins, a Woodrow Wilson Middle School seventh-grader from Terre Haute, who went word for word with Hughes as the two finalists battled for 10 rounds.

The last competitor to go out before the two finalists went head to head was another Greencastle competitor, Tzouanakis Intermediate School 

fifth-grader Benjamin Wilkerson, who finished as second runner-up in the spelling bee.

Among the words Hughes tackled correctly down the stretch were autopsy, angs-trom and intractable.

Benjamin Wilkerson

After Hughes missed on metamorphosis, the 13-year-old Collins went on to correctly handle the words notochord and karaoke to earn an all-expense-paid trip to Washington, D.C., for the prestigious Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Should Colins be unable to attend the May 28-30 event for any reason, Hughes would take her place in the nation's capital.

Hughes, the son of Adam and Beverly Hughes, Greencastle, took home a $50 savings bond, a Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and a runner-up plaque.

In addition to Greencastle standouts Hughes and Wilkerson, fifth-grader Abigail Teipen represented Central Elementary with a top-10 finish.

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