EDINBURG — “I mean, I don’t have, like, a heart monitor, but I feel like it was 140 (beats per minute),” 13-year-old Roberto “Robbie” Ortiz said of the adrenaline rush he felt shortly after winning the 35th annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee here Saturday afternoon.
The eighth grader from Brownsville’s Incarnate Word Academy fended off 41 other spellers from across the Valley through eight rounds of words until he and two other boys were left.
Roberto “Robbie” Ortiz, center, smiles after winning the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee, sponsored by AIM Media Texas and DHR Health. Also shown are Diego Reyna Oviedo, left, who won second place, and Luke Holt, right, who came in third. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])Roberto “Robbie” Ortiz, of Incarnate Word Academy in Brownsville, spells a word during the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Edinburg. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])Camila Gamboa, a student from Solis Middle School in Donna, reacts after hearing her word during the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee in Edinburg on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])Adlemi Villarreal, left, celebrates after fellow PSJA ISD student, Carlos Alan De Leon Jr., spells his word correctly during the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee in Edinburg on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])Sky Santos, from Garza Middle School in Edinburg, grimaces after misspelling a word during the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee in Edinburg on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])UTRGV linguistics professor Dr. John Foreman, right, reads a spelling word to Sofia Ortiz, from IDEA College Preparatory School – Riverview during the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee in Edinburg on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])A total of 42 students from across the Valley competed in the 35th Annual Rio Grande Valley Regional Spelling Bee in Edinburg on Saturday, March 4, 2023. (Dina Arévalo | [email protected])
