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Sunday, April 2, 2000
'Pugnacious' gives speller regional victory
Marina Brown, 12, will compete in national spelling bee in Washington, D.C.
By Aimee Courtice
Caller-Times
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| John Kennedy/Caller-Times |
| Hunter Smith (right) reacts to misspelling a word in the final round of the South Texas Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday. Marina Brown (left) won the contest by spelling the word 'pugnacious.' She will compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in June. |
When Marina Brown misspelled "alliteration" in the fifth round of the South Texas Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday, she thought it was over.
"My heart sank," she said.
But because the judges did not correct Marina after she incorrectly repeated the word back to the judges before spelling it, the judges ruled they were at fault and reinstated her in the competition.
Top finishers
Winner: Marina Brown, Homeschoolers of South Texas, by correctly spelling 'pugnacious'
Hunter Smith, Grant Middle School, "desultory"
Victoria Breeding, Ichthus Academy, "nemoral"
Angela Gray, Jones Elementary School, "tamale"
Cristina Flores, Houston Elementary School, "fluxion"
Charity Benson, Haas Middle School, "vacuous"
Andrew Daehne, Incarnate Word Middle School, "campanologist"
Karen Gresham, Moore Elementary School, "vengeance"
Yuan Xing Yu, Baker Middle School, "rhinal"
Jennifer Zhu, Kieberger Elementary School, "Wagnerian"
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In the eighth round, runner-up Hunter Smith, an eighth-grader at Grant Middle School, misspelled "desultory."
"I was really nervous then," Marina said. "My heart was really pounding."
She then spelled "pugnacious" for the win.
Marina, who competed against 116 students Saturday, will head to Washington, D.C., in June, where she will vie against 248 other students in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.
"It's great," she said. "It's just amazing."
Marina, who is home-schooled, said she didn't expect to win in her first appearance in the spelling bee.
"I was just really, really hoping," said the 12-year-old Canadian native.
Marina said she owes her win to Billie Lau, a family friend who tutored Marina during the weeks before the competition.
But Lau said Marina didn't need too much help.
"She's very smart," she said. "It wasn't that hard."
Marina's mother, Sherrie, said her daughter didn't worry about the contest and tried to have fun.
"She had a very positive attitude from the very beginning," she said.
Marina said she would try to study for the national spelling bee in June as much as she did to prepare for Saturday's contest.
But after looking at the large dictionary Marina also won, she said, "I don't think I'll even make it through the D's this time."
Staff writer Aimee Courtice can be reached at 886-3622 or by e-mail at courticea@caller.com
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