Vanya Shivashankar, a 12-year-old from Olathe, Kan., who tied for fifth place in 2013 and whose older sister, Kavya, is the 2009 champion, did not perform well enough on the written test to make it through.
Syamantak Payra, a 13-year-old from Friendswood, Texas, elicited a gasp from the audience when he misspelled “circumforaneous” and was eliminated before this year’s final. He had tied for seventh place last year.
One speller, 12-year-old Virginian Jae Canetti, captured hearts during an introductory video when he spoke about his mother being diagnosed with cancer two months before he competed in last year’s bee and how happy he was that she had recovered and how he felt he would do better because of it.
Unfortunately after the video played, Jae got “the one word I didn’t know, pretty much,” he said afterward. That word was “parseval,” defined as a nonrigid airship. He spelled it “p-a-r-s-a-v-a-l” but received a standing ovation from the audience and the spellers on stage.
“I think it really reassured me because I kind of knew the audience was rooting for me,” he said later. “I think that show of support really comforted me.”
Article Appeared @http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/05/29/spelling-bee-winner-scripps/9736823/