Jason Arndt, jarndt@shawanoleader.com
Karelyn Malliet
Karelyn Malliet, of Shawano, spelled her way through two preliminary rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday but failed to advance to the semifinals.
The 13-year-old Shawano Community Middle School seventh-grader spelled two words, “graupel” and “rhabdomancy,” correctly in the preliminary rounds of the 87th annual event Wednesday in Maryland.
In addition to the two rounds of onstage oral spelling, however, the contestants also needed to score at least 28, out of a maximum 36 points, on computer-based testing that involved spelling and multiple-choice vocabulary questions.
Of the 281 spellers in the competition, 257 advanced to round three. Many of them spelled their words correctly on stage, but only 46 scored high enough overall to make the semifinals.
Craig Ferch, coordinator of the Shawano School District spelling bee, said Malliet showed poise during her initial appearance in the national bee.
“She got up there and asked that it (graupel) to be used in a sentence, she smiled and got it correct,” Ferch said.
Graupel is soft hail, or snow pellets. Rhabdomancy is divination by means of a rod or wand, especially in discovering ores, springs of water.
Malliet, who has won the district bee for three straight years, won the Badger State Spelling Bee in March, defeating 47 contestants to capture the state title. She finished 11th at the state contest in 2013.
She was Wisconsin’s only representative at the national bee, which continues with a semifinal round at 9 a.m. Thursday and concludes with finals beginning at 7 p.m. The semifinals will be televised on ESPN2 and the finals on ESPN.
“It’s one and done. If you are incorrect, you are out,” Ferch said. “The next round will be much harder.”
Malliet and her parents flew to Washington, D.C., on Sunday.
Malliet told the Leader, after winning the state bee, that the trip with her parents will be her first chance to visit the nation’s capital. The family planned to visit some of the monuments and other sights — when she wasn’t studying words for the bee.
Wisconsin hasn’t had a national spelling bee champion since Joanne Lagatta, of Clintonville, in 1991.
DID YOU KNOW?
- Bee Week 2014 marks the first visit to the nation’s capital for 90 spellers.
- The spellers range in age from 8 to 15 years old.
- This year’s group of competitors is 51 percent girls and 49 percent boys.
- Among this year’s field, math is most frequently cited as a favorite subject.
- The bee is held at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
Source: National Spelling Bee