Clay Hill Middle School speller wins Dorchester 4 title

Dorchester -- Ask Clay Hill Middle School sixth-grader Andrew Cockcroft if he studied for the Dorchester District 4 spelling bee, and he'll tell you he did.

But standing behind him, his mother, Nikki Cockcroft, will rat him out.

"No he didn't," she said. "I kept saying, 'Andrew, you'd better go study,' but he wouldn't. Not like I wanted him to anyway."

It didn't matter because Andrew, 12, walked away with the top trophy Wednesday at Woodland High School, besting St. George Middle School sixth-grader Tedreauna Britt, also 12.

Seven students started the spelling bee, but after the first round, only Andrew and Tedreauna were left. They seesawed back and forth, spelling and misspelling words like "serenade," "allergenic" and "potassium" for nine rounds before Tedreauna misspelled "loathe."

Andrew spelled "loathe" correctly and added "siege" to win the event and become the fourth Clay Hill student to win in as many years. "He told me today he had to be here at 6 o'clock and I said, 'Just make sure you represent because I want this four years in a row,' " said Clay Hill Principal Michael Williams. "It's one of those unwritten brags that all of us principals want."

The other students who competed were Teona Goodwin and Dayton Sommers of Williams Memorial Elementary School; Xzaria Neals and Denita Boyd of Harleyville-Ridgeville Elementary School; and Sommer Knight of St. George Middle School. Andrew and Tedreauna will now advance to Spellbound!, the Lowcountry's regional spelling bee, sponsored by The Post and Courier.

The competition will be held at 7 p.m. March 22 at Lightsey Chapel at Charleston Southern University. The winner gets a trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is May 27-June 1 in Washington, D.C.