Three-time Scripps speller Vanya Shivashankar will move on to 2013 semifinals.
(Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory/MEDILL NEWS SERVICE)
WASHINGTON — After two intense days of competition, three-time Scripps National Spelling Bee competitor Vanya Shivashankar will take the next steps towards the bee’s championship finals. She is from Olathe.
On Wednesday, four local spellers — Vanya, Meah N. Wilburn of Lee’s Summit, Evan Filer of Harrisonville and Sterling A. Holland of Linwood — entered etymological overdrive during the live-spelling rounds in the preliminary competition.
After two instant-elimination live-spelling rounds and a harsh cut — from 239 live-spelling-round survivors to the top 42 contestants based on preliminary spelling and vocabulary test results — Vanya emerged as the sole semifinalist from the Kansas City area.
She survived the first live round by correctly spelling intaglio, defined by Scripps as “an engraving in stone.” She later correctly spelled horologium, which Scripps calls “a timepiece.” Her score on the preliminary test cemented her semifinals spot.
The next steps for her?
On Wednesday night, Shivashankar will take a second computer-based spelling and vocabulary exam.
The first two sections of the test will contain 12 one-point questions each (in spelling and vocabulary, respectively) for a total of 24 points, and all semifinalists will get the same questions.
The last two sections will each have a single, three-point multiple-choice vocabulary question unique to each speller, for a total of six points.
As in the preliminaries, the test will account for 30 of the possible 36 points available for this leg of the competition, and misspelled or incorrect responses won’t result in instant elimination.
The test marks the start of semifinals, which continue Thursday with competitors spelling words onstage for a chance at six additional points toward their semifinal score. Any incorrect spellings will result in immediate elimination.
While three other local competitors didn’t make the semifinal cut, they gave it a fighting shot.
Both Evan and Meah survived the live-spelling rounds.
Evan faced cachet, which Scripps called “a prestigious or distinctive quality,” and prevaricate, defined as to “lie” or “deviate from the truth.”
Meah conquered mihrab, which Scripps called “a niche in a mosque” and Bauhaus, defined as being “of a certain German school of design.”
Scripps speller Meah N. Wilburn successfully survived two instant-elimination live-spelling rounds of this year’s preliminary competition, but didn’t make the semifinals cut. (Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory/ MEDILL NEWS SERVICE)
Their test scores, however, didn’t place them among those advancing.
And while Sterling correctly spelled diphthong in the first live-spelling round, he was later eliminated for misspelling febrility.
Despite a promising start, Sterling A. Holland was eliminated from Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminaries on Wednesday.
(Brina Monterroza/MEDILL NEWS SERVICE)
One speller from Missouri, a boy named Gokul Venkatachalam from Chesterfield, also advanced to the semifinals.
ESPN2 will broadcast Thursday afternoon’s live-spelling competition. The evening finals will be shown on ESPN.