Longest contest ends with a rattle
FLORIDA
C-o-s-s-a-c-k. With a quick rattle, 11-year-old
Filipino Miguel Gatmaytan wrapped up one of the
longest Florida spelling bees in the history of the
contest.
“Yes,” he shouted, punching the air, after the judges
pronounced his spelling correct.
Gatmaytan, a sixth-grader at Osceola Middle School
in Marion County, survived 38 rounds of spelling
challenges and beat out 13 other competitors to win
the 48th annual Central Florida bee, the Florida
Sentinel reported.
The youngest regional spelling champion in more
than a decade, Miguel’s victory earned him a spot in
the National Spelling Bee in May.
“I feel awesome,” Miguel said after he had been
handed a trophy and prizes, which included
US$2,000 for travel expenses to Washington, DC.
Miguel’s father, Carlos, described his son as a
voracious reader and straight-A student who always
seemed to have a gift with words.
The family moved to Florida from the Philippines
three years ago, and the trip to Washington for the
80th national spelling bee will be Miguel’s first to
the nation’s headquarters.
After 24 rounds, Miguel and Sophie, the Lake
County champion, were the last two spellers left,
and they battled for the top spot.
Aplomb. Basilica. Fiefdom. Pinnacle. Adumbrate.
The two students took turns spelling them right,
among other words, to go another 14 rounds.
Then Sophie misspelled vagary. She sat down, and
Miguel returned to the microphone. Miguel spelled
vagary correctly, then won when he also aced the
word for a Russian peasant who served in the
Czar’s cavalry: c-o-s-s-a-c-k.
Miguel said he had never entered a spelling bee
before this school year but studied nightly once he
decided to compete.
His parents helped by drilling him on words they
found in spelling books. He won the Marion County
bee, continued studying for Thursday’s competition
and said he plans to do even more for the national
event.
The regional bee was held at the Orlando Sentinel,
which sponsors the event. It featured winners and
runners-up from eight Central Florida county
spelling bees, though two contestants did not
compete.
It took 21 rounds to whittle the competitors to a final
four. Those four spellers included the youngest in
the pack, nine-year-old Benjamin Rice from Port
Orange Elementary in Volusia County.
Benjamin spelled a long list of words correctly and
brought smiles to the audience when one of them
was precocious. He was knocked out in the 23rd
round by reticence.
Kaitlyn Johnston, a student at The First Academy in
Orange County, came in third.
FLORIDA
C-o-s-s-a-c-k. With a quick rattle, 11-year-old
Filipino Miguel Gatmaytan wrapped up one of the
longest Florida spelling bees in the history of the
contest.
“Yes,” he shouted, punching the air, after the judges
pronounced his spelling correct.
Gatmaytan, a sixth-grader at Osceola Middle School
in Marion County, survived 38 rounds of spelling
challenges and beat out 13 other competitors to win
the 48th annual Central Florida bee, the Florida
Sentinel reported.
The youngest regional spelling champion in more
than a decade, Miguel’s victory earned him a spot in
the National Spelling Bee in May.
“I feel awesome,” Miguel said after he had been
handed a trophy and prizes, which included
US$2,000 for travel expenses to Washington, DC.
Miguel’s father, Carlos, described his son as a
voracious reader and straight-A student who always
seemed to have a gift with words.
The family moved to Florida from the Philippines
three years ago, and the trip to Washington for the
80th national spelling bee will be Miguel’s first to
the nation’s headquarters.
After 24 rounds, Miguel and Sophie, the Lake
County champion, were the last two spellers left,
and they battled for the top spot.
Aplomb. Basilica. Fiefdom. Pinnacle. Adumbrate.
The two students took turns spelling them right,
among other words, to go another 14 rounds.
Then Sophie misspelled vagary. She sat down, and
Miguel returned to the microphone. Miguel spelled
vagary correctly, then won when he also aced the
word for a Russian peasant who served in the
Czar’s cavalry: c-o-s-s-a-c-k.
Miguel said he had never entered a spelling bee
before this school year but studied nightly once he
decided to compete.
His parents helped by drilling him on words they
found in spelling books. He won the Marion County
bee, continued studying for Thursday’s competition
and said he plans to do even more for the national
event.
The regional bee was held at the Orlando Sentinel,
which sponsors the event. It featured winners and
runners-up from eight Central Florida county
spelling bees, though two contestants did not
compete.
It took 21 rounds to whittle the competitors to a final
four. Those four spellers included the youngest in
the pack, nine-year-old Benjamin Rice from Port
Orange Elementary in Volusia County.
Benjamin spelled a long list of words correctly and
brought smiles to the audience when one of them
was precocious. He was knocked out in the 23rd
round by reticence.
Kaitlyn Johnston, a student at The First Academy in
Orange County, came in third.
Miguel’s father,
Carlos, described
his son as a
voracious reader
and straight-A
student who always
seemed to have a
gift with word.
Carlos, described
his son as a
voracious reader
and straight-A
student who always
seemed to have a
gift with word.
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Pinoy student, 11, tops Florida spelling bee
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