Vindicator spelling champion ends her run in national bee

By HAROLD GWIN

gwin@vindy.com

YOUNGSTOWN

Julia Miglets had no trouble spelling “allargando,” nor did she have difficulty spelling “wapentake,” the words she was faced with in rounds two and three of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

But she said she spelled only 12 of 25 key words correctly on a computerized spelling test in round one, and that score prevented her from advancing to the semifinalist round this morning at the Grand Hyatt Washington.

Julia, daughter of Laura and David Miglets of Poland, is the grand champion of The Vindicator’s Regional Spelling Bee in March, a position that entitled her to a spot among the 273 spellers participating in the national event.

“I guess I was scared of being on TV,” Julia said Thursday night after completing rounds two and three. She had admitted before the bee that she was uncomfortable being on stage and wasn’t looking forward to appearing before a national television audience in the semifinal and final rounds.

“It looks to me [that] she’s relieved,” said her father, who was among the many family members accompanying Julia to Washington.

She appeared to be very composed on stage, he said, adding, “Of course, we were white- knuckled.”

Julia was pleasantly surprised when she got two words with which she was familiar in rounds two and three.

She said she learned how to spell “wapentake” a couple of weeks ago.

As for “allargando”?

“I just learned it just 20 minutes before going on stage,” she said.

Although she was confident, Julia said she knew winning the national event would be extremely difficult.

“I’m just glad I got to go,” she said, adding that she is pleased to have won the regional bee. She was her school champion four times and finished third twice in the regional competition.

The 13-year-old eighth-grader from Springfield Intermediate School said she was hoping to do a little more sightseeing today. She said she and her mother have tickets for the bee finals scheduled live from 8 to 10 tonight on ABC television network.