Here are Ada's top spellers, from left: 1st place Ryan Kilgallon, 2nd place Ryley Davie, and 3rd place Leona Dalton. They finished as the top three contestants in the Ada spelling bee held Feb. 17.

Interesting stories from the spelling bee according to Suzanne Hardesty, Gifted Coordinator for Ada schools.

• Leona was an alternate and really did not want to compete, but was persuaded to give it a try. Her mom was able to reschedule her lunch break at the last minute to see Leona.

• The winning word, between Ryley and Ryan was "pretzel."
• Another surprising story: Nathan Hurtig was a favorite going into the Bee because he has won previously and he studies year-round... he added a "p" to the word "hamster."
• Other challenging words: hippopotamus, mayonnaise, cauliflower, opossum
• This year the bee ended on word number 61, whereas some years the bee goes all the way to word 100. It really depends on which speller gets which word.
• Ryan moves on to the Regional Spelling Bee, which is sponsored by the Lima News. It is  at 10 a.m., Saturday, March 5, in Ohio State Lima's Reed Hall Auditorium.