JUST NOT TO BEE SUCCESS ELUDES CASTAIC SPELLER.Byline: Lisa Friedman Washington Bureau WASHINGTON - Christian Medina sat with his hands clasped, his foot tapping nervously as the National Spelling Bee spelling bee n. A contest in which competitors are eliminated as they fail to spell a given word correctly. Also called spelldown. Noun 1. director called out the assigned numbers (standard) assigned numbers - The RFC STD 2 documenting the currently assigned values from several series of numbers used in network protocol implementations. This RFC is updated periodically and, in any case, current information can be obtained from the Internet Assigned Numbers of 97 youngsters who would go on to a third, grueling round of spelling. ``One forty-nine, 80, 65, 67, 213, 93, 7.'' The announcer finished. The Castaic teenager sighed. His number, 14, was not among the winners. ``I didn't think I would make it because I scored low on the written test,'' Medina said, his father's arm on his shoulder. Having already competed that morning on words like ``Kneippism,'' ``recamier'' and ``scherenschnitte,'' he said he was actually a bit relieved. ``I'm pretty happy that I made it this far, but I'm also happy that it's over,'' he said. By the day's end, only 87 students were left standing, ready to go on to the bee's fifth and final round today. The winner will take home $22,000 from various sponsors, as well as a $5,000 college scholarship. Medina, 13, won $75. He also was awarded a commemorative com·mem·o·ra·tive adj. Honoring or preserving the memory of another. n. Something that honors or preserves the memory of another. com·mem watch, a $100 savings bond Savings bond A government bond issued in face value denominations from $50 to $10,000, with local and state tax-free interest and semiannually adjusted interest rates. savings bond A nonmarketable security issued by the U.S. and the ``Third New International Unabridged Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' on CD-ROM CD-ROM: see compact disc. CD-ROM in full compact disc read-only memory Type of computer storage medium that is read optically (e.g., by a laser). . Unlike past years, spellers did not lose on a single word. Medina, for example, stood on stage and successfully spelled ``aition,'' after only a single request for a definition. The word means the story of the origin of a religious observance. Yet of the 25 words in the multiple choice written test, Medina missed 11. His combined score of 17 points put him five shy of what was needed to advance to the day's third round. ``We had some high scorers, folks,'' Director Paige Kimble consoled the crowd. After the winners were announced, Medina said he would stay to cheer on a friend he had made at the competition, 12-year-old Kyle Rogacion of Salinas Salinas, city, United States Salinas (səlē`nəs), city (1990 pop. 108,777), seat of Monterey co., W Calif.; inc. 1874. It is the shipping and processing center of a fertile valley famous for its grain and lettuce. . An eighth-grader at Castaic Middle School, Medina is not eligible to compete again next year. But he said that's fine, since he'll be taking AP biology Advanced Placement Biology (also known as AP Biology or AP Bio) is a course and examination offered by the College Board to high school students as an opportunity to earn placement credit for a college-level biology course. . ``They say it's a lot of work,'' he said. His father, Angelito Medina, said the entire family is proud of Christian. ``Hey, it's over,'' he told his son. ``Let's celebrate.'' Lisa Friedman, (202) 662-8731 lisa.friedman(at)langnews.com CAPTION(S): photo Photo: (color -- ran in SAC edition only) Christian Medina, 13, of Castaic Middle School, made it to the second round of the National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., but got knocked out of competition in the written spelling test A spelling test is an assessment of a person's (usually a student's) ability to spell words correctly. Spelling tests are usually given in school during language arts class, to see how well each student has learned the most recent spelling lesson. . Tom Mendoza/Staff Photographer |
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