Emporia Middle School’s Laurel Harper will be spelling with the best in the state next month after taking the top spot in the 2025 Lyon County Spelling Bee Tuesday.
After 12 rounds of spelling inside of the Emporia Humanitarian Center, Harper emerged victorious by correctly spelling the winning word university. Harper says she was excited to be named the winner.
Coming second place was Esther Green of Emporia Christian School while Olpe Elementary School’s Harley Haag finished third. With her win, Harper now advances to the state spelling bee which will take place Saturday, March 23 at Kansas Wesleyan University.
A victory at state would advance Harper to the national spelling bee to be held May 27-29 in Washington, D.C.
