Thirteen-year-old Erika Gritton of Provo's Ivy Hall Academy was named champion of the Daily Herald 2007 Utah Valley Spelling Bee on Saturday morning. This is the fourth year the Daily Herald has sponsored the local Scripps National Spelling Bee. Erika will travel to Washington, D.C., to compete in the national bee from May 27 to June 1. The bee was held at Neways International in Springville and spellers 7 to14 years old came from Utah, Wasatch, Sanpete and Juab counties. Erika's winning word was amenity. She also correctly spelled grotto, plausible, bayou, rhetoric, artificial, singe, ventriloquist, picaresque, interrogative and conspiracy. The first runner-up was Kevin Urquhart, 13, of Canyon View Jr. High School, and second runner-up was Garrison Park, 12, of Mountain Ridge Junior High School.

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A1.