Arkansas spellers fall short in D.C., miss out on finals
HARBOR, Md. — Two Arkansas students correctly spelled words Wednesday during the third round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but were edged out for spots in the finals.
A third, who had survived Tuesday’s rounds, was eliminated after giving a wrong answer Wednesday morning.
Dasha Blalock, 12, of Jonesboro started her day by correctly spelling the word “reclamation,” the “act or process of reclaiming.”
Weston Sills, 13, of Farmington stepped to the microphone moments later, but misspelled “meringue,” a “dessert topping consisting of a baked mixture of stiffly beaten egg whites and sugar.”
Pavani Chittemsetty, 12, of Bentonville quickly followed, accurately spelling “wight.” The noun, which is pronounced like “white,” means “a living being; a creature.”
This was Weston’s final year of eligibility. Pavani and Dasha say they’ll be digging through their dictionaries, trying to get a leg up for next year’s competition.
Overall, 452 spellers, including all three Arkansans, had made it through the first day of competition. Sixty-seven others failed to advance beyond the initial stages, tournament officials said.
On Wednesday, 321 of the remaining 452 students spelled words correctly.
Under the rules, no more than 50 spellers could advance to today’s final rounds. So the results of a multiple-choice spelling and vocabulary test, administered earlier in the week, were used to sharply winnow the remaining field.
Today’s championship, the 91st annual bee, will air live on ESPN.
The winner will receive $42,500, a trophy, trips to New York City and Hollywood, and a reference library, bee officials said.
Tuesday’s words were entirely foreseeable. They came from a list of 600 words that contestants received ahead of time.
Wednesday’s words came from the Merriam-Webster Unabridged, a dictionary that contains more than 470,000 entries.
Pavani, a two-time state champion, qualified for the contest by winning this year’s Arkansas State Spelling Bee, sponsored by the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A student at Northwest Arkansas Classical Academy in Bentonville, she is the daughter of Murali Chittemsetty and Dhana Varikunta.
Dasha and Weston earned spots on the stage by entering RSVBee, a new program that gives spellers an alternative route to the national competition.
RSVBee participants must win their school spelling bees, be invited to participate and
Dasha and Weston earned spots on the stage by entering RSVBee, a new program that gives spellers an alternative route to the national competition.
pay a $750 fee.
Dasha, a sixth-grader at the Visual & Performing Arts Magnet School in Jonesboro, has won the Craighead County spelling bee three times. She is the daughter of Tim and Mary Ann Blalock.
Weston, an eighth-grader at Randall G. Lynch Middle School in Farmington, is the son of Andy and Jocelyn Sills. He won the Washington County spelling bee in 2017.
The national spelling bee
has been held in recent years at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, a complex on the banks of the Potomac River, 10 miles south of downtown Washington, D.C.
All 50 states and the District of Columbia are represented, along with eight foreign nations and a variety of U.S. territories and possessions.
Only students in eighth grade or below are eligible. Contestants’ ages this year range from 8-15.
Pavani, who has already won the Arkansas title twice, said she plans to “go back home and try again for next year, study harder and [come] back.”
Dasha also has her eye on 2019.
“I will be studying as much as I can,” she said.
Her mother, Mary Ann, also will be hitting the books. “She’s my mentor and I look up to her,” Dasha added.