Corpus Christi Caller Times Caller.com - Calallen student wins regional spelling bee

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Sunday, April 1, 2001
Calallen student wins regional spelling bee
Chance at national bee, $100 bond gives Eric Schulz an 'opulent' feeling
By Samuel Segrist
Caller-Times

David Adame/Caller-Times

Victoria Breeding (left) thinks hard about her word ‘chrysanthemum’ in the 48th annual South Texas Regional Spelling Bee. Breeding was unable to spell the word correctly. Eric Schulz (right) went on to win the bee by correctly spelling ‘opulent.’

Ten-year-old Eric Schulz sat in his chair at the Bayfront Plaza Convention Center and scanned through the list of competitors.
   "They have a lot of sixth-graders," he told his father Clinton Schulz.
   So as a distraction, Eric and his father counted up the number of contestants from each grade, as the families came in and passed them at the 48th annual South Texas Regional Spelling Bee sponsored by the Caller-Times.
   There were 38 fifth-graders, 16 sixth-graders, about 110 students in all.
   Six hours and 14 correctly spelled words later, fifth-grader Shulz had outlasted them all.
   By correctly spelling "opulent," Schulz won the contest and claimed a ticket to the 74th annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee May 30-31 in Washington, D.C.
   "I knew I had an OK chance," he said after winning on his second trip to the regional competition. "I've just always been a pretty good speller."
   The student at Wood River Elementary School in Calallen said he spent the last three weeks practicing. Saturday was his second trip to the regional competition. His mother, Gayle Schulz, said Eric spent part of every night going over a different sheet of words.
   The practice paid off. Throughout the competition, he would rattle off the words as soon as heard them.
   The contest began at about 9:30 a.m. Third-grader Jennifer Zhu of Port Aransas started the event by quickly spelling "mentality."
   Zhu, 8, lasted longer than any other third-grader, finishing tied for third overall with Danny Garza Jr. of Corpus Christi in the seventh round. After Zhu and Garza were eliminated, Schulz went toe-to-toe for six rounds with 13-year-old Victoria Breeding of Ichthus Academy in Driscoll.
   The two finalists were a contrast in techniques. Schulz usually spelled his words with few questions. Breeding would question the panel about the words' definitions and origins before clearly spelling them.
   Breeding tripped on "chrysanthemum" in round 13, leaving out the first h. Eric had just successfully spelled "gaud," a noun that defines a cheap decoration.
   Schulz said he knew he won once the final word - opulent - was read to him. He spelled it correctly without hesitating. As the remaining crowd broke into applause, he looked down at the floor quickly before looking back at the audience and smiling.
   "He surprised me because he just seemed to know every word," Gayle Schulz said.
   Dale Nelson of KRIS-TV 6 emceed the event. Allison Smith of KRIS-TV 6 was the word pronouncer. Judges for the event included Chris Davis Garcia, coordinator of public information for the Corpus Christi Independent School District; Nick Jimenez, Caller-Times editorial page editor; and Steve Arnold, Caller-Times marketing director.
   As part of his winnings, Schulz received a $100 savings bond and an electronic dictionary and thesaurus. But he doesn't get much time to rest on his regional win. Schulz will join 245 spellers from across the country at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.
   The regional champion said he knows he has a lot of studying to do before the big event.
   "It's going to be pretty hard."

Staff writer Samuel Segrist can be reached at 886-3764 or by e-mail at segrists@caller.com

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