SPELLBOUND SIMI VALLEY TEEN WINS BEE, HEADED FOR NATIONAL CONTEST.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

WOODLAND HILLS - In a contest as much a battle of nerves as wits, Saro Oknaian, 14, of Simi Valley took a deep breath and calmly spelled the word ``Lilliputian'' Saturday to win the 17th annual Daily News Regional Spelling Bee.

Oknaian beat 34 student champions from schools throughout the San Fernando Valley and surrounding area in the three-hour contest in the auditorium of Taft High School in Woodland Hills.

For the first time in the spelling bee's history, runoff rounds were held to determine second and third place winners after the six remaining finalists misspelled words in the same round, leaving no clear victors.

In the end, Jon-Erik Nissen, 13, of Newhall, took second place by correctly spelling ``infarction,'' and Anoush Keskerian, 13, of West Los Angeles, took third place when she misspelled ``ebullient.''

Oknaian, who placed second last year in the Daily News spelling bee, will now represent the newspaper in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee scheduled for May 26-June 1 in Washington, D.C. - following in the footsteps of his older brother who won the Daily News spelling bee six years ago.

``It's all about keeping calm and breathing,'' said Oknaian, an eighth- grader at Agbu Manoogian-Demirdjian School in Canoga Park. ``I also worked really, really hard for the past couple weeks.''

Oknaian also credited his spelling coach, Jack Orchanian of North Hollywood, with helping him win the contest. Orchanian also worked with Oknaian's brother, Mhair, when he won in 1996.

``Saro is a very determined child,'' said Orchanian. ``And he can really handle the pressure.''

Oknaian's parents, Vatche and Azniv, say they will accompany their son to Washington, D.C.

``It's a great accomplishment and we are very, very proud, especially after seeing how hard he worked,'' said Vatche Oknaian, Saro's father. ``And now, with the help of my son, we're going to see the nation's capital.''

Nissen, who took home a Merriam-Webster dictionary, will serve as an alternate in the national spelling bee if Oknaian is unable to attend.

The eighth-grader at Placerita Junior High School in Newhall said the spelling bee was easier than he expected initially, but then rapidly became more difficult.

Later rounds featured such head-scratchers as ``glossolalia,'' ``bicaudate,'' and ``polystyrene.''

``It was easier than I thought at first, and then it went crazy,'' said Nissen, who was described by his father as a ``voracious reader.''

``He's just a natural speller,'' Brian Nissen said of his son. ``I would have gone out of the spelling bee long before he did.''

Nissen also got some help from his spelling coach and English teacher Sophia Fernandez.

All of the top three spellers share a love of reading and said the contest helped them expand their vocabulary.

Keskerian said she enjoys reading poetry in her free time, and spent hours after school each day preparing for the spelling bee with her coach Jackie Mishler, her English teacher at Alex Pilibos Armenian School in Los Angeles.

``The hardest part was keeping calm,'' said Keskerian. ``But I just took deep breaths and drank a lot of water.''

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2 photos

Photo:

(1 -- color) A jubilant Saro Oknaian, 14, of Simi Valley shows off his medal after winning the 17th annual Daily News Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday. He beat 34 students to compete in Washington, D.C.

(2) - Saro Oknaian

14-year-old spelling bee winner

Eric Grigorian/Special to the Daily News