Top two contestants headed to state competition
By DONNA JONES
Sentinel staff writer
SANTA CRUZ — During a break before the final round of the Santa Cruz County Spelling Championships on Sunday, Ellora Karmarkar said she was "doing OK." But the Aptos Junior High student did better than OK, besting 35 other contestants to take first place in the
secondary competition.
The annual competition featured students in two divisions: grades seven through nine in the secondary division and grades four through six in the elementary division. The top two contestants in each division go on to compete at the state level on May 6 in Marin County.
Rishi Malhotra of Aptos Academy and Kristen Yee of Lakeview Middle School tied for first place in the elementary division. Taking second place in the secondary division was Michael Watts of Georgiana Bruce Kirby Preparatory School.
The competition, held at UC Santa Cruz, was open to all schools in the county, with each invited to send two contestants. The selection process was set by schools. At the countywide event, students attempted to spell 62 words at the elementary level and 80 at the secondary level.
Also in the top ten in the secondary division were Joey Sinopoli of New Brighton Middle School and Vincent Malley of Santa Cruz High, who tied for third place, followed by Amanda Shareghi of Harbor High, Adam Field of Georgiana Bruce Kirby, Alex Freushamer of Shoreline Middle
School, Eugene Bragado of Rolling Hills Middle School, Cory Robertson of Harbor High and Hannah Copperman of Pacific Collegiate School.
The elementary division’s top ten included, in order of rank starting with third place, Sophie Chen of Monte Vista Christian Middle School, Kevin Aban of Santa Cruz Gardens Elementary, Andrea LaGare of Vine Hill Elementary, David Barr of Mar Vista Elementary, Sarah
Liesching of Boulder Creek Elementary, Matt Bush of Scotts Valley Middle School, Clare Williams of Salesians Sisters Elementary School and Cynthia Aldrich of Monte Vista Christian.
The Santa Cruz County Sentinel, Santa Cruz County Office of Education and UC Santa Cruz were the principal sponsors of the contest.
The Sentinel provided a $150 stipend to each of top two contestants in both division to help cover their expenses at the state competition. The top five contestants received two passes each to the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk. Contestants who ranked sixth through 10th each received
two passes to Cinema 9. All contestants earned certificates of participation, a commemorative T-shirt from the Sentinel, a paperback dictionary, courtesy of Bay Tree Book Store and Random House, and candy from Harmony Foods.
