Meet Plainfield's Scripps National Spelling Bee Contestants

PLAINFIELD, IL — Two Plainfield-area students are competing during the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which kicked off Tuesday in Maryland and continues Wednesday. A total of 26 students from Illinois made it to the national bee.

Olivia Schwab, 13, a sixth-grader at Murphy Junior High School in District 308, is sponsored by the Grundy/Kendall County Regional for the competition. According to the Scripps site, here are some facts about Olivia:

• Favorite Book: Divergent by Veronica Roth
• Favorite TV Show: The Office
• Favorite Game: Sims 4

Gabriel Ennin, 14, an eighth-grader at District 202's Heritage Grove Middle School, is also competing. He also competed in 2016, tying for 46th place, and 2017, when he tied for 189th place. Some facts about Gabriel:

• Favorite Food: Pizza
• Favorite Movie: Thor: Ragnarok
• Favorite Historical Figure: Nelson Mandela

The preliminary rounds take place Tuesday and Wednesday and the finals will be held on Thursday, May 31. On Wednesday, you can watch the Bee on ESPN 3. For the finals, tune into ESPN 2 from 10 a.m. - 2p.m. eastern for Part 1 and for Part 2, tune into ESPN at 8:30 p.m eastern.

The preliminaries consist of a multiple choice test and two rounds of spelling onstage, known as round 2 and round 3 respectively, Scripps explains. Spellers are eliminated for spelling incorrectly in either of the onstage rounds. After rounds 2 and 3, no more than 50 spellers head to the finals. (Read the full competition rules here.)

Photos: Gabriel Ennin (left) and Olivia Schwab by Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee