The third time was the charm for eighth grader Jacob Tate who was the winner of the Baylor 2023 Middle School spelling bee after being runner-up his sixth and the third-place finisher his seventh grade year. Jacob claimed the championship after 28 rounds by spelling the winning word, "cirrhosis.”
Jacob went on to place fourth against a field of 42 of the state’s top spellers in the regional spelling bee in Nashville. He did a wonderful job holding his composure under pressure to compete in 20 rounds for four hours before he was stumped by the word “tanager.”
Eighth grader Tate Hilley and sixth grader Pei-Ying Olsen placed second and third, respectively, in the Middle School spelling bee.