Tough words did not faze Central’s best young spellers in Cromwell last night.
Twenty-three teams from six schools filled the Cromwell College auditorium for the year 9 and 10 round of the Otago Daily Times Extra! spelling quiz.
The teenagers were unusually quiet as they worked not only to spell words, but test their knowledge in editing and word origins.
The team of Zoe Rendall, Kathryn Smit and Shoi Nagase, from Alexandra’s Dunstan High School, scored the top prize with 95 points out of 100.
Zoe said she read "all the time".
"I love big novels, because they’re just really fun."
Kathryn said she felt the questions were not "not too hard".
She felt pride for the school, which won the competition last year, she said.Teams from Queenstown’s Wakatipu High School came in second and third.
Extra! editor Ivan Behrnes told the pupils it would be the last time he and his wife Ann would run the event, after creating it 15 years ago.
"We built this from the ground up, so I’m so proud to see you all here tonight."
After the quiz, he said it would keep going next year under a new Extra! editor.
"The kids did really well tonight, especially considering it was much tougher than last year."
The pair will return to Central Otago later in the year for the current events quizzes.
The spelling quiz will move next to Dunedin, starting at Tahuna Normal Intermediate on Wednesday.
