NATIONAL BEE Local speller takes defeat in 1st round with a smile

Kelly says she'll watch the other spellers and have fun while in D.C.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Kelly Lynn Morckel, 14, didn't know what a jicara was.
When the spelling bee judges informed the West Branch junior high eighth-grader that it was a cup or bowl carved from a certain type of wood, Kelly appeared perplexed. She asked about the word's language of origin (Spanish) and for the word to be used in a sentence.
Her options exhausted, Kelly pursed her lips, stared at the ceiling, then tried to sound it out. She guessed, incorrectly, that it was spelled h-i-e-k-a-r-a.
Kelly was one of dozens of middle-school pupils knocked out in the first round of the National Spelling Bee, which started today in a hotel in downtown Washington.
But unlike most defeated spellers who emerged from the bee's & quot;comfort room & quot; with tear-streaked cheeks, Kelly was all smiles within a few minutes of losing.
& quot;I was imagining that I might get out on the first word, so I wasn't disappointed, & quot; she said as her mother, Jodi McCullough, stood by, smiling.
Kelly said she was going to spend the rest of the day watching the other spellers. She said she hoped to & quot;learn some new words, I guess, and just have fun. & quot;
Devinne Dietz, representing Columbiana County, survived the first round, correctly spelling quebrada. Michael Talanca, representing Trumbull County, was eliminated in the first round, misspelling chiral, which means designating or of a three-dimensional form, as a molecule, that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. Michael spelled it c-a-i-r-o-l.
This year's spellers range in age from 8 to 15, although most are 13 and in eighth grade. The majority, 167, attend public school.
Among the 251 pupils to advance to the 76th Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee is Jodie Singer, 11, of Washington, D.C.
Her goal was to clear the first round, which means getting one word right.
Not a low expectation, she says, just a realistic one. Her competitors faced tougher words in their states, and many have competed at the national level before. Two spellers, Sai Gunturi of Texas and Kelsey Swaim of West Virginia, are attending their fourth national bee.
"I know people are expecting a lot," said Jodie, a sixth-grader with a smile full of braces. "I know I'm probably not going to win -- I'm not. But other people who have no clue how hard the nationals are, how hard the words are, they think I'm a really good speller. They think I'll do really well. It's a lot of pressure."
As for Jodie, on her way to the finals she practiced a 500-word list so much that she could spell many words after hearing one syllable. The sheet went wherever she did, including on a trip to the ice rink, where her mom, Carrie, quizzed her as they put on skates.
After winning the District of Columbia contest in March, Jodie stopped spelling for two weeks, a break she now regrets. Oculogyric, dolichoid, serrulate -- the words stacked up.
So the practice returned, at home and at school, around Hebrew school, dance class, Girl Scouts, homework and, naturally, "American Idol."
One day, while her 5-year-old brother Adam napped, Jodie breezed through her words. Then came fomorian.
Head in hand, eyes closed, she concentrated.
"Is it a ph?" she said. "Is it an f?"
Such trial and error isn't allowed on stage. A speller may ask, however, for a word's definition, pronunciation and other relevant clues. The best spellers are word detectives, not memorizers, said 1981 champ and bee Director Paige Kimble.
The winner's main prize will be $12,000, and all other spellers will receive a range of cash awards depending upon their performance.