G-e-n-e-a-l-o-g-y.

That was the winning word at last week’s San Joaquin County Spelling Bee Championship in the Junior Division.

Ninth grader Praneet Aditya Kyumaravel of Millenium High spelled that word correctly to once again advance to the California State Spelling Bee April 25 at the Great Wolf Lodge.

He’s a repeat champion in the San Joaquin County Office of Education event, finishing as the runner-up at the state competition.

Paranav Karyamapudi, who is an eighth grader at Williams Middle School in Tracy, also advanced to state Spelling Bee. He placed second behind Kyumaravel.

Several local students competed in the 28th annual SJC Spelling Bee held at the Wentworth Education Center on Dec. 3 for seventh through ninth graders.

Included were Aditya Pethe (Lathrop Elementary), Sabhana Neerkattil (Nile Garden), and Anshika Nawale (Nile Garden) of Manteca Unified; Emily Brannon (Park View), Salina Epperson (Ripon High), Julianne Lagonera (Colony Oak), and Sydney Hildebrand (Ripon Elementary) of Ripon Unified; Elnathan Oreta (STEAM) and Navya Nayak (EPIC) of River Islands Academies (Banta Unified); and Benjamin Hargus of St. Anthony’s School (private).

Some of the early words from the competition included ‘gladiator,’ ‘odious,’ ‘praline,’ ‘zeppelin,’ and ‘meddlesome.’

The Spelling Bee Championship was sponsored by the SJCOE Educational Foundation.