Lee’s Summit student Sophia Hoffman wins spelling bee again

Sophia Hoffman is heading to the National Spelling Bee for the second time. She survived 17 rounds of the Jackson and Clay counties bee on Saturday, outlasting 16 other spellers.

Her winning word was “torpid.” There were two runners-up: Joseph Benson, a sixth-grader at Antioch Middle School, went out on “countenance.” Lance Willyard, a fifth-grader from Chapel Lakes Elementary, went out on “infarction.”

Hoffman, a seventh-grader at Pleasant Lea Middle School, also won last year. And in 2014 she just missed, taking second to Kush Sharma in a 75-round marathon bee that had to be halted and resumed later when the judges ran out of sanctioned words.

The event Saturday was held at the Plaza Branch of the Kansas City Public Library. It was emceed by April Roy, manager of the Bluford Branch library, and Phil Witt, newscaster for Channel 4.

The Kansas City Star

This story was originally published February 27, 2016 at 4:46 PM with the headline "Lee’s Summit student Sophia Hoffman wins spelling bee again."