It’s no walk in the pork for eliminated Arvadan
»Seventh-grader WASHINGTON
Lauren Guo of Arvada was on a roll for several rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday — knocking down “cosmopoietic,” meaning world-creating, and “chrystocrene,” a mass of loose rock fragments similar to a glacier.
But Lauren fell just short of joining the 16 spellers who made Thursday night’s prime-time finals. The 12-year-old, who attends Wayne Carle Middle School, was undone by “cotechino,” a smoked and dried pork sausage.
Still, Lauren’s top-20 finish puts her in the elite tier of a competition that began Tuesday with 516 participants — the most in bee history.
And it adds to Colorado’s success at the long-running event; the state has produced seven winners since the bee started in 1925. (Tied for third most in the country.)
This year, eight Colorado students tested the odds, and three of them, including Lauren, were among the 41 spellers who made the final day.
Competitors ranged in ages from 8 to 15.
Joining Lauren at the end were Jacob Faulk, 14, of Denver and Cameron Keith, 12, of Boulder.
All three students advanced because they correctly spelled two words on stage earlier in the week and did well enough on a written test to make the final-day cut.
This year’s competition, held annually in the Washington region, was bigger than ever because the organizers opened it to anyone who had either won a school spelling bee or participated before on the national stage. Previously, entry was limited to champions of local and regional bees.
Of this year’s 516 competitors, 113 had previous experience at the national bee.
In spite of the field’s size and depth, Colorado did well.
Cameron, a three-time bee participant, was able to get “kriegspiel” — a variant of chess — on the last day of competition but couldn’t quite spell “chausses,” a kind of leg armor.
Jacob had some early success too with the word “lotic” but fell short on “lochan,” a Scottish or Gaelic word for a small lake.
“I don’t know if I can even say that,” said Jacob when faced with the harsh-sounding term.
Lauren and Cameron were coached by Sylvie Lamontagne, a fellow Coloradan and twotime top-10 finisher at the national bee.
This year’s winner is slated to receive more than $42,900 in cash and prizes.