Denham crowned as Phillips County Spelling Bee Champ

Though Kelbee Denham had no idea what the word "Flemish" meant, she gave it her best shot when asked how to spell it at last week's Phillips County Spelling Bee in Saco and, with a little luck, got it correct to win this year's contest.

"I have never heard that word before, so I just guessed," she said after winning the Bee. Prior to "Flemish," Denham had to correctly spell "contiguous," yet again another word she had never been called upon to spell prior to Tuesday.

"I guessed on that one too," she said.

Denham was part of a field of 30 spellers – grades five through eight – to earn spots at the Phillips County Spelling Bee after placing in the top five at their respective school. The schools represented on the day were Dodson, Malta Elementary, Malta Middle School, East Malta Colony, Saco and Whitewater.

Denham, a seventh grade student, said she felt she did "alright" at the event but admitted afterward that she figured she would be eliminated after the first round, though she took first place at the Malta Middle School Spelling Bee earlier in the month.

"I was hoping to win, but I didn't think I would," she said.

With the win, Denham – daughter of Steph and Moe Denham of Malta – will go on to the State Spelling Bee to be held in Billings.

"I hope I do well and I will practice more before going to state," she said.

The final round of the event pitted Denham against Whitewater student Heidi Anderson.

"I think I did pretty well, I guess," said Anderson. "I didn't think I would get that far."

Anderson, a sixth grade student, took second place at the Whitewater Spelling Bee earlier in the month and will be the alternate to Denham for the state bee. Anderson's last word, "gondola" was one she had never heard of before. She is the daughter of Edward and Becky Anderson of Whitewater.

At the day's event, emcee and Saco teacher Tanya Funk, started the contestants off with a practice round to get familiar with how the contest would play out. Only two words were spelled incorrectly by the contestants in the practice round. The words in following rounds would be tougher to spell and in the opening round, 13 students were eliminated. Round two saw another seven students take a seat with the 75 or so spectators in attendance. It was in the seventh round that Denham and Anderson faced-off for the title with Denham correctly spelling "Flemish" – which is the Dutch language spoken in Northern Belgium.

Judges for the event were Leah Minnerath, Vivian Taylor and Diane Eklund.

Previous Phillips County Spelling Bee Winners:

2014 Bella Mackey -- Malta

2013 Isabel Wright -- Malta

2012 Blake Sjostrom -- Malta

2011 Justin Funk -- Saco

2010 Blake Sjostrom -- Malta

2009 Brandon Nicholson -- Malta

2008 Justin Funk -- Saco

2007 Kayla Gairrett -- Saco

2006 Korie Kindle -- Malta

2005 Mark Messerly -- Dodson

2004 Tony Ost -- Malta

2003 Reese Kindle -- Malta

2002 Kalvin Reichelt -- Whitewater

2001 Katie Smith -- Malta

2000 Nicole Young -- Malta

1999 Jonnae Lumsden -- Whitewater

1998 Shannon Brady -- Malta

1997 Rebecca Lind -- Malta

1996 Kirk Reichelt -- Whitewater

1995 Angela Roberts -- Malta