Cedarville speller eliminated from National Spelling Bee
Jun. 1—Sophia Lopez of Cedarville Middle School got her first two words right but was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday afternoon in the third round of the competition.
A total of 234 spellers from all 50 states, several U.S. territories and four foreign countries won local and regional bees, qualifying to compete in-person this week near Washington, D.C. This is the third time Sophia has made it to the National Spelling Bee. She made it to the final 20 spellers last year..
Sophia successfully spelled "clematis" in the first round, then correctly identified the word "aberration" as "a shift from the usual state of things" in Round 2. However, she faltered on "trilobite," spelling it "trilobyte." The word refers to "any of numerous extinct Paleozoic marine arthropods having the segments of the body divided by furrows on the dorsal surface into three lobes."
Tuesday's rounds of competition were still ongoing at 6 p.m. Of the first 200 spellers, only 77 made it through the first three rounds. Of those first 200, there were 59 spellers eliminated in Round 1, then 25 were ousted in Round 2, and Lopez was among 39 were eliminated in Round 3.
Spellers in the National Spelling Bee compete in three sets of oral competition, beginning with a round of spelling, followed by multiple-choice word meaning, and continuing with rounds of spelling competition.
Preliminary competition took place Tuesday, and the quarterfinals and semifinals will run all day on Wednesday, beginning at 8 a.m. The 2022 finals will be televised on ION and streamed on Bounce at 8 p.m. Thursday, June 2.
