Eastern school Scrabble squad runner-up in state meet

Once again, the Eastern Greene Scrabble team has fared well at state with one team placing second. Shown here are (at back from left) Tori Milhoan, Peyton Gilliatt, Brittany Martin, Nicole Hudson, Savanna Spice, Lynndsia Terrell and Lilli Southern. Pictured (at front from left) are Gage Shell, Claire Byers, Dinah Fuller, Hannah Resler, Seth Query and Brandon Mitchell. (Submitted photo)

Dinah Fuller, EG Scrabble sponsor, provided details on the recent competition that landed some local 'Scrabblers' in second place.

"No one's unhappy... of course we wanted to win but no one's unhappy," she said, adding the state competition was won by a team of home-schoolers who have also qualified for adult competition.

"We only lost to them. They were beating many of the teams by hundreds of points," Fuller explained. "We got beat by 18 points."

Eastern Greene definitely held its own, she noted.

"It was great training experience to help prepare us (for nationals)," she said. "We ended up out of the 34 teams coming in second."

Savanna Spice and Nicole Hudson placed second with a record of 4-1 and a score of positive 428.

Peyton Gilliatt and Tori Milhoan landed in seventh with a 3-2 record.

Lynndsia Terrell and Lilli Southern placed 12th with a 3-2 record.

Claire Byers and Gage Shell placed 13th with a 3-2 record.

Brittany Martin and Hannah Resler landed 16th with a 3-2 record.

Brandon Mitchell and Seth Query placed 20th with a 2-3 record.

"The great thing is they know what to work on now," Fuller said.

For example, one team needs to practice two-letter words while another needs to concentrate on making bingos.

"It was really great... they now know what they need to focus on," Fuller said. "It's an opportunity to see what kind of words are beating them."

In April, the players will hit the Scrabble national competition in Orlando, Florida.

"Right now everybody's feeling good. A month from today (Monday) we fly and we have a new venue," she said.

This year four EG teams will head to the nationals at a cost of about $1,000 per student.

"We made about $5,100 with the recent (silent) auction. We had wonderful community support. There were 335 different items to bid on," Fuller added. "We need a thousand per student and we're taking eight students."

Savanna Spice, Nicole Hudson, Peyton Gilliatt, Tori Milhoan, Lynndsia Terrell, Lilli Southern, Brittany Martin and Hannah Resler will compete at the national competition.

"There's no alternate team because we're taking a fourth team... They (students) were thrilled we could pick up another team," she said.

Fuller is still hopeful that Scrabble fever spreads to the rest of the county schools.

"I really, really hope we can get some other county schools involved next year and strengthen the program. Our kids are excited. The kids don't feel the walls of rivalry."