Two local sixth-graders took first and second place at Wednesday's Los Angeles County Spelling Bee.
Catherine Velardez of Lawndale's Will Rogers Middle School won the 35-student competition on the words "lithosphere" and "procumbent."
Second place went to Carina Kan from Palos Verdes Intermediate School in Palos Verdes Estates.
Congrats, girls! Both will go to the statewide spelling bee at Sonoma State University in Rohnert Park on May 16.
The Wednesday event, held at an Alhambra conference center, was the fourth annual countywide spelling contest. Students from grades 4 through 6 competed.
Other local students who participated: Jesse Torres of Bud Carson Middle School in Hawthorne, Danielle Woodcock of Torrance Unified's Magruder Middle School, and DeAndre Young of Dana Middle in Wiseburn School District.
