FORT WALTON BEACH — After more than 20 rounds of spelling, it all came down to one word: innate.
Until then, Teertho Bhattacharya, a fifth-grader at Plew Elementary School, and Pryor Middle School eighth-grader Rendell Rod Lucena had gone head-to-head spelling words like “curriculum,” “android,” “bruin” and “retrospective.”
They were the last students standing in the Okaloosa County School District competition after out-spelling 31 other students.
See a photo gallery from the bee. >>
Ultimately, Rendell won by spelling “guitar” and “ambiguity” correctly after Teertho misspelled “innate.”
“I just thought, ‘Don’t give me knockout words —double Ls, two Ts, silent letters,’ ” Rendell said later. “Still, I think it was a great fight.”
Teertho, who was presented a trophy along with third place winner Isaiah Wilson of Shalimar Elementary, said he wasn’t too disappointed in his loss.
“I was just thinking about what I saw on the practice list, but I thought the wrong word,” Teertho said.
With his win, Rendell, who moved to the area in June from the Philippines, will go on to compete in the Big Ben Spelling Bee in Tallahassee next month.
If he wins there, he’ll go on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee later this year. The spelling bee was the first in a long time for the school district, according Cheryl Seals, who organized the event.
All the students qualified by winning competitions at their schools. Nearly 20 elementary and middle schools were represented with students in the fourth through eighth grades.
“It took a lot of preparation to get here,” Seals said. “I’m hoping they’ll walk away with the thrill they have excelled.”
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Words misspelled |
Words spelled correctly |
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mustache |
accoutrement |
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dawdle |
epizootic |
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lucrative |
maunder |
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aura |
collegiate |
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comedienne |
schism |
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stethoscope |
prairie |
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bonanza |
glitz |
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petroglyph |
icicle |
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Katie Tammen at 850-315-4440 or ktammen@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @KatieTnwfdn.