An eighth-grader at Maranatha Christian School won the county spelling bee Thursday, beating his closest rival after a one-on-one face-off that lasted 13 rounds.
Benjamin Reinhard, 14, won by correctly spelling the word kenosis, which refers to the act of a Christian person voluntarily giving up their personal rights and ambitions and accepting suffering, according to the spelling bee’s definition.
“It feels crazy,” said Benjamin after the event at the Jackie Robinson Family YMCA. “I’m actually, like, in shock right now.”
As the winner, Benjamin will represent San Diego County in the the Scripps National Spelling Bee in the Washington, D.C., area in late May.
Alyssa Meulemans, an eighth-grader at Saint Columba Catholic School in Serra Mesa, was the runner-up and will compete in Washington if Benjamin can’t make it.
The field is down the last five of the competing 78 students in the 56th Annual Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
When the event began Thursday morning, there were 78 spellers to compete — but in the first two rounds, around 40 were eliminated.
Once the competition reached the final five, they went through two rounds where no one was eliminated.
Benjamin and Alyssa were the only remaining competitors by round 10, and the pair faced off for another 13 rounds.
Benjamin did not have the word “kenosis” on his spelling bee list but tried to sound it out and spell it the simplest way he could.
“Because I’ve heard that’s the best way to do things,” he said.
Students nervously wait their turn to take to the stage. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
He studied by going through the national bee’s list of 4,000 so-called “words of the champions,” plus using an app based on it.
“I just kind of went over that and over that and over that,” he said.
This year was Benjamin’s first year competing, because his school this year hosted a bee for the first time.
Benjamin Reinhard, 14, from Maranatha Christian School, listens to pronouncer Patricia Elmore Costa. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)
To prepare for the nationals, he’s planning to go through his app and word list “again and again, again, just getting those words really down.
“And I’m also going to be studying a lot out of the dictionary,” he added.
Winners of the San Diego County regional bee have gone on to prevail in Washington a few times before.
Snigdha Nandipati of Francis Parker School won the national spelling bee in 2012, and in 2005, Poway student Anurag Kashyap won.
Students nervously wait their turn at the spelling bee at Jackie Robinson Family YMCA on Thursday, March 5, 2026. (Nelvin C. Cepeda / The San Diego Union-Tribune)