C-H-R-Y-S-A-N-T-H-E-M-U-M CAN YOU SPELL, TRIP TO D.C.? SANTA CLARITA TEEN WINS SPELLING BEE.

Byline: Brad A. Greenberg Staff Writer

David Pruden didn't ask for a word's definition. He didn't ask for a word to be used in a sentence or for its language of origin.

Fourteen times Saturday David simply walked to the microphone, repeated the word to himself and spelled it flawlessly to win the Daily News Regional Spelling Bee.

``I'm real excited. I've spent most of my time studying the advanced words, which kind of felt like a waste, but since I'm going to nationals it's not,'' the 14-year-old from Santa Clarita said after winning in the 13th round with ``chrysanthemum.''

The bee wasn't as flowery for the rest of the 47 spellers from fourth grade to eighth grade. Nineteen were knocked out during the first round.

``There were some words I couldn't spell without looking up,'' said Sharon Klein, the bee's pronouncer and an associate professor of English at California State University, Northridge.

Brandon Wallace had been training for weeks and he spoke with confidence and authority during the practice round. But the Sierra Vista junior high student was immediately taken aback by his first challenge.

``Prerequisite,'' Brandon said. ``P-R-E-R-E-Q-U-I-S-T-I-E. Prerequisite.''

Ding! The judge's bell. The sound of a misspell.

``I think I did pretty well considering I got a challenging word,'' Brandon later said.

Unlike at national bees, which are televised on ESPN and inspired the award-winning documentary ``Spellbound,'' few participants Saturday took time to dissect the unfamiliar words thrown at them.

Participants are allowed to ask the pronouncer to repeat the word, give a definition or use it in a sentence, among other things. Only twice was a word's language of origin requested, which can help differentiate letters that have similar sounds such as ``t'' and ``d.''

``That is one of the keys,'' said Klein, a veteran pronouncer.

And yet David Pruden didn't seem to need any help.

As the ninth round began, only he and Emma Manning remained. Emma, a 13-year-old Pasadena girl who placed fifth at the bee last year, had misspelled ``satire'' during the practice round but had been perfect since.

The next four rounds went by in a flash as Emma and David volleyed words like ``edentulous'' and ``funambulist.'' In the thirteenth round, Emma tripped on ``catenate'' and David seized the crown and an expense-paid trip for him and his mother to Washington, D.C., at the end for May for the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee.

``The Lord gets the credit for giving him abilities and talents,'' said mother Connie Pruden.

The event, which was held at the Skirball Cultural Center and lasted about two hours, was open to fourth- through eighth-graders at public and private schools in the Daily News circulation area. The 47 participants advanced to the regional spelling bee after beating their classmates.

``Remember kids,'' columnist Dennis McCarthy said during the introduction, ``every one of you is a winner already.''

Brad A. Greenberg, [phone]

brad.greenberg(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

2 photos

Photo:

(1) Connie Pruden looks proudly upon the trophy her son, David, 14, of Santa Clarita won Saturday for finishing first at the Daily News Regional Spelling Bee.

(2) Emma Manning, right, and David Pruden battle it out in the 13th round. It was here that Manning tripped up, giving Pruden a chance for the title. He did so, correctly spelling, ``chrysanthemum.''

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer