Names and notables

Edie Schmierbach, The Free Press, Mankato, Minn.
·4 min read

Mar. 26—Knowledge Bowl

Students from Minnesota Valley Lutheran High School, New Ulm, competed in Region Nine Knowledge Bowl finals March 20 in Mankato.

The school's MVL Black team placed second. Team members are Jack Kom, Isaiah Rogotzke, Isaiah Carlovsky and Joseph Schroeder.

Four MVL teams will advance to region finals for the AA competition April 13-14 at Brainerd.

Regional Spelling Bee

Twenty-one spellers from south-central Minnesota competed March 2 in the South Central Service Cooperative Regional Spelling Bee. The regional contest is a qualifier for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The participating fifth through eighth grade students had previously won their local bees.

After 13 rounds, Elijah Elledge, a fifth grade student from Immanuel Lutheran School in Mankato, was named champion after correctly spelling "parvo" as the championship word.

Elledge was awarded a trophy, a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online, a one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online, a mint proof set, and travel expenses and accommodations to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Brielle Brown, an eighth grader from Maple River Schools, finished in second place after misspelling "expunge" in round 12. Madelyn Ryan from Tri-City United Schools was third.

The 2023 Scripps National Spelling Bee is Memorial Day week.

Area spellers who also placed in the regional competition include:

Tie for fourth place — Max Budin, Most Holy Redeemer School, Montgomery; and Ashlynn Simon, Comfrey Public School.

Fifth place — Ayman Reza, Bridges Community School.

Tie for sixth place — Lucy Koch, Granada Huntley East Chain, and Isabelle Penner, Mountain Lake Public School.

Tie for seventh place — Avery Fischer, New Ulm Area Catholic Schools, and Gisele McCabe, Loyola Catholic School.

Tie for eighth place — AnnaBelle Dilworth, KATO Public Charter School; Arianna Guerra, Sleepy Eye Public Schools; Hudson Miller, Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton; and Anya Stoll, St. Peter Evangelical Lutheran.

Tie for ninth — Aimee Aleman, St. James Middle School; Tarynn Hohenstein, Truman School District; Hadley Thompson, Cleveland Public Schools.

Raegan Riddle, St. Paul's Lutheran School, qualified for the regional competition but was able to participate.

Mankato High School speech

Speech teams from Mankato high schools competed in the Bulldog Invitational meet March 18 at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton High School. Twenty-two teams competed.

—Mankato West High School's team placed third.

West speech competitors who placed are:

Varsity: Emma Steffen — first, discussion; Saarah Hassan — first, drama; Gianna Aloisio — first, informative; Kennedy Hayden — second, extemporaneous reading; Quinn Mackie — third, extemporaneous speaking; Klara Lybeck — fifth, humorous; Lila Madison — fifth, original oratory; Klara Lybeck — sixth, prose.

Novice: Gwyneth Blickem — first, creative; Desiree Maloney and Anthony Palesotti — first, duo; Alayna Carpenter — first, poetry; Laura Mohapatra — second, discussion; Orion Losey — third, poetry.

—Mankato East High School's speech team took sixth place in the team sweepstakes.

East finalists are:

Kalan Kenward — first, humorous; Asher Thole — third, humorous; Olivia Moeller — third place, drama; Ashling Smith — fourth place, informative; Maarit Mattson — fifth, original oratory; Kate Laven — sixth, storytelling.

—Loyola High School's team placed seventh overall.

Loyola teams that finaled are:

Varsity: Molly Koester and Teya Waagner — third, duo; Molly Koester — third, extemporaneous reading; Teya Waagner — fourth, extemporaneous reading; Gabby Monson — fourth, storytelling; Kairi Alm — fifth, poetry.

Novice: Soren Kelly — third, creative expression; Andrew Tieva — third, prose; Luke Blace and Annie Long — fifth, duo.

Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council

Prairie Lakes Regional Arts Council announced youth scholarships totaling $30,800 have been awarded to students in grades 7-12 and 3-6 throughout the region.

Blue Earth County recipients of $300 are: Grades 7-12 — Eleanor Coons-Ruskey, Leo Harstad, Evie Johnson, Lucy Kelly, Mollie Kelly, Aubree Kuglin, Grace MacPherson, Price MacPherson, Rose MacPherson, Blake Thielsen, and Amelia Valdez, all of Mankato; Mathias Barents, of Lake Crystal; Gracelyn Freitag, of St. Clair; Emily Kleidon, of Lewisville; and Anne Wersal, of Eagle Lake.

Blue Earth County recipients of $200 are: Grades 3-6 — Alisha Davis, Caleb Etta, Favor Etta, Newman MacPherson, Adyson Troldahl, Zachariah Wentz, and Brea Willaert, all of Mankato; and Brytyn Barents and Kijana Barents, both of, Lake Crystal.

Recipients will use the awards in a variety of activities including dance classes, chorus, music and theater.

Rockhurst University

Brittany Bauman, of St. Peter, was awarded a master of science degree from Rockhurst University in Kansas City, Missouri, Dec. 11.

Bauman earned her master's in nursing.

Minnesota State Community and Technical College

Erika Ebert, of Courtland, graduated from Minnesota State Community and Technical College at the end of the fall semester.

Ebert majored in global and intercultural studies and earned an associate degree in liberal arts and sciences.