Myra Kobylinski used notes to help her visualize words in the Samuel Lutheran School spelling bee. After 20 rounds, Kobylinski was the last speller in the competition, and the winner of the bee.

MARSHALL — They were more than 10 rounds into the competition. The words that a group of Samuel Lutheran students were asked to spell were starting to get more complicated. More than once, students like Evan Krenz gave nervous laughs or head shakes before taking their best shot at an unfamiliar word.

“I was kind of nervous. It wasn’t too bad, though,” Krenz said.

A total of eight students in grades 5-8 participated in Samuel Lutheran School’s annual spelling bee on Tuesday, with a crowd of classmates and parents there to support them. This year, eighth grader Myra Kobylinski became the school spelling champ, and is eligible to compete at the regional spelling bee in Redwood Falls on Feb. 6.

“I’ve never been at the Redwood one,” Kobylinski said.

The first place winner of the regional bee will go on the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., teacher Renee Manian told students.

Competition at Samuel Lutheran started out with a round of practice words, and then gradually got harder. Students were allowed to ask write notes to help them work out word spellings.

“You can take all the time you need,” Manian told students. The catch was that once they started spelling out loud, they couldn’t go back and change any mistakes, she said.

The actual words provided for the competition couldn’t be shared, to avoid the possibility of giving other students an unfair advantage, said Samuel Lutheran principal John Festerling.

Eventually, the competition was down to three students. Third place winner Emilie Krenz misspelled a word in round 13 of the bee, and then Evan Krenz and Myra Kobylinski were left to battle it out for another seven rounds. In the end, Evan misspelled a word, and Myra spelled two correct words in a row to claim first place at the bee.

Kobylinski said she had taken part in school spelling bees in previous years, and it made competing less nerve-wracking. “When I was younger, I was more nervous,” she said.

Other area schools will also be holding spelling bees this month, in the lead-up to the regional bee.