Holmen speller among top finishers in state bee

A Holmen student was among the contestants on stage at the end of this weekend’s Badger Spelling Bee in Madison. 

Kaetryn Oliver of Holmen Middle School was one of six spellers included in a tie-breaker round to determine runners-up in the state finals. 

That round came after Madison-area speller Maya Jadhav won the state contest for the second straight year. 

Oliver was one of the five students to qualify for state from the CESA-4 spelling bee a month ago in West Salem.       

Jadhav will represent the Wisconsin State Journal in the National Spelling Bee in Washington, at the end of May.

Her winning word on Saturday was “panchax,” a type of fish found in Africa and Asia. 

This year, the Wisconsin state bee is sending only one champion to nationals, instead of three contestants as in recent years. 

Other Wisconsin spellers may qualify for nationals by applying for “wild card” status.