The field of 43 seventh- through- ninth- grade students representing 14 school districts took part in the Junior Division of the San Joaquin County Spelling Bee Championship.

Included were four each from Manteca Unified and Ripon Unified coupled with two charter and one private.

But it was Jefferson Elementary School that dominated the 26th annual event at the San Joaquin County Office of Education event. Eighth grader Pranvi Rikkamalle edged out seventh grader Praneet Kumaravel – he was the returning Spelling Bee champion – by correctly spelling ‘desiccant.’

Next for Rikkamalle and Kumaravel are the California State Elementary Spelling Bee on April 27 at the San Joaquin County Office of Education.

SJCOE Superintendent of Schools Troy Brown congratulated the participants prior to the competition.

“We’re all proud of you,” he said, noting that they were among the 150,000 overall students throughout the county.

Among the early Spelling Bee words were ‘diversity,’ ‘marathon,’ ‘pomegranate,’ ‘stagnant,’ ‘agriculture,’ ‘choreographer,’ and ‘immaculate,’ to name a few.

Each speller was afforded two misses in the written competition.

Competing locally were Eshamei Payopay (Mossdale Elementary), Xian Dimaandal (Nile Garden), Harjap Singh (Sequoia School), and Ayush Kumar (Veritas) of MUSD.

Representing RUSD were Avelin Ayala (Park View Elementary), Salina Epperson (Park View), Beauross Yan (Ripon High), and Caitlin Mooney (Weston Elementary).

Others in the field included Shreya Sancheti (EPIC Academy), Avisha Sehrawat (STEAM Academy), and Marko Arceo (St. Anthony’s School).