They came from nine school districts, five charter schools and eight private schools.

Thirty-seven students from grades four through six competed in the Elementary Division of the 24th annual San Joaquin County Spelling Bee championship on Monday at the SJC Office of Education.

Of that, two emerged as winners from the same small school district in Tracy (Jefferson). Pranvi Rikkamalle, who is sixth grader at Anthony Traina School, correctly spelled out "circumvent" to edge out Jefferson School fifth-grade student Praneet Kumaravel for first place. Both missed on the previous word "arboretum."

Rikkamalle and Kumaravel will be back at SJCOE on May 14 for the State Spelling Bee finals.

The SJC Spelling Bee field consisted of 11 students from the nearby local schools. Included were sixth graders' Avisha Sehrawat (STEAM Academy in Lathrop) and John Engaling of St. Anthony School. Both finished in the Top 5.

Caitlin Mooney, who is a sixth grader at Weston School in the Ripon Unified School District, finished in the Top 10.

Angel Keo (fifth grade, New Haven / Manteca Unified), Samantha Wall (sixth grade, Ripon Elementary / RUSD), and Adriel Torres (sixth grade, River Island Technology Academy) made it past the second round.

The other local spellers included Mia Focaracci (fourth grade, Colony Oak / RUSD), Addison Souza (fifth grade, McParland / MUSD), Sage DeCosta (sixth grade, Neil Hafley / MUSD), and Richard Smith (sixth grade, Sequoia / MUSD).

The first round consisted of words such as "goblin," "novel," and "anthem" while the second round featured "resilient," "satellite," "antenna" and "genius."

According to Superintendent of Schools Troy Brown,the SJC Spelling Bee was the first event organized by SJCOE coordinator Erika Chapman, who previously taught at Lathrop High,

Due to the COVID-19 safety protocols, the participants were by their lonesome in the Wentworth Education Center, with their parents and family members viewing the event from a nearby conference room.

Lisa Bowman, who spent the better part of two decades teaching English, served as the Spell Master.

The SJC Spelling Bee continues Wednesday with the Junior High Division, Students in grades seven through nine will begin competition in the same SJCOE venue beginning at 4 p.m.