Last-Minute Finalist Wins First Place in National Bible Bee Contest

Liesl Lawrence of Georgetown, Texas, was named the 2010 National Bible Bee champion after she was allowed to join the senior division finals as the sixth contestant.

Minutes before this year's senior finals at the Marriott Renaissance Convention Center Hotel near Chicago, judges announced that Lawrence was supposed to the be fifth finalist but she had been disqualified due to an error in judges' scoring materials.

She was added back in after organizers of the event discovered that some of the judges' scoring materials did not reflect different variances of the Kings James Version that were circulated by the National Bible Bee.

Despite the last-minute announcement, Lawrence gave the top performance, receiving the first place crystal trophy and a cash prize of $100,000. She beat out second place winner Mallory Powell of Linden, Tenn., who took home $25,000 and third place winner Mark Heimann of Wexford, Pa., who took home $15,000.

The national competition tests contestants on their written and oral Bible knowledge and ability to memorize scripture based on their favorite translation. Winners at the local level go on to complete in the nationals, which consist of the Preliminary Oral Round and Written Test Round and the Semi-Finals Challenge Round that eventually lead up to the Final Challenge Round.

Toward the end of each of the Final Challenge rounds on Saturday, judges for each division frequently asked the remaining finalists to recite 1 Peter 1:3-25.

Winners in the primary, junior and senior divisions this year came from cities across the nation. Each took home cash prizes ranging from $5,000 to $100,000.

For the junior division, Alex Watt of North Huntington, Pa., came in first; Anna Floyd of Bath,Pa., took second place; and Brittany Schlichter of Montgomery, Texas, finished in third.

Winners of the primary division were Olivia Davis of Salem, Oregon, in first place; Esther Lin of San Jose, Calif., coming in second; and Mark Tremaine of McKinney,Texas, in third.

Many of the finalists said in their introduction videos that they came from homeschooling families.

Sponsors and ministry partners for this year's National Bible Bee included: Awana, Tyndale House Publishers, and Gods World Publication.