Sixteen champion spellers from the St. Louis area outspelled 133 other contestants in the first session of the 26th annual Spelling Bee sponsored by The St. Louis Globe-Democrat. Saturday's competition was held at the J.C. Penney auditorium at the University of Missouri at St. Louis. Winners in the morning session are, from left, first row, Marty Smith, Brian Stansberry and Elisa Chen. Back row, from left, Elyse Swanger, Tricia Flynn, Martha Blue, Mariah Echele and Trisha Sauer.