Thursday, May 30, 2002
Buddiga spells to 'prospicience' to win it
Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- After slowly and deliberately working his way
through a mountain of words, a Colorado seventh-grader spelled
''prospicience'' -- meaning foresight -- to win the 75th Scripps
Howard National Spelling Bee.
Pratyush Buddiga, 13, survived 11 rounds, outlasting 249 other
contestants who began the competition Wednesday. He takes home an
engraved trophy and $12,000.
''I didn't think I really had a chance to win,'' he said. ''I
just wanted to be in the top five.''
The first public school student to win the competition since
1999, Pratyush attends Mountain Ridge Middle School in Colorado
Springs. His family hails from India, but Pratyush was born in New
Zealand and they came to the United States in 1995.
A first-time competitor in the national bee, he went
head-to-head in the final rounds with Steven Nalley, 14, of
Starkville, Miss. Steven was returning for his second try at the
championship.
Ninety spellers began the day onstage, having survived an
unprecedented 25-word written test Wednesday.
In the final day of competition, contestants successfully worked
their way through ''kakemono,'' ''caulicolous,''
''stultiloquence,'' ''culgee,'' ''hermeneutics,'' ''soavemente''
and ''toreutics,'' among others.
The final rounds featured sudden exits by several contestants
who seemed virtually invincible.
The capacity crowd gasped when Michael Hessenauer, 14, of
Dublin, Ohio, bowed out in Round 5, missing ''verticil,''
describing a circle of similar parts, as with flowers or hairs.
Michael was the highest ranked speller returning from the 2001
competition. He tied for third last year, and was in the finals for
the third time.
Erik M. Bolt, 14, of South Bend, Ind., one of two finalists
making their fourth trip to the competition, was among the final
nine contestants. He was eliminated in Round 7 on ''badigeon,'' a
cement used to cover holes in wood or stone.
Also eliminated was Mallika Thampy of St. Louis, little sister
of the 2000 champ. She tripped up on ''batture,'' a French word
meaning the land between a low river and a levee.
Emily Cole, 14, of Boiceville, N.Y., another speller making her
fourth trip to the bee, correctly spelled ''pugilist,'' a boxer, on
Wednesday, but was eliminated in the written test.
Other finalists stumbled on these tough nuts: ''throstle,''
''roriferous,'' ''tiralee,'' ''objicient'' and ''icteric,'' among
others.
Thursday's finals were broadcast live on ESPN. First lady Laura Bush opened the broadcast with taped comments, telling the contestants, ''I am very proud of you. I hope you'll always work hard at spelling and at reading. The more you
read, the better your spelling will become and the more your
vocabulary will grow.''
Among the guests of honor watching the competition Thursday was
Frank Neuhauser, 88, winner of the first National Spelling Bee in
1925.
After he won, Neuhauser got to shake hands with Calvin Coolidge,
then received a hero's welcome in his hometown of Louisville, Ky.
After sitting through one round Thursday, Neuhauser said, ''The
words are, in my judgment, much more difficult.''
