Local Vindy Spelling Bee winner eliminated from national contest

Top 50 advance to finals

Staff/wire report

WASHINGTON, d.c.

A West Branch student took an early exit in the preliminary section of the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee in the nation’s capital.

Macey Stancato, winner of The Vindicator’s 84th Regional Spelling Bee, was eliminated Wednesday after incorrectly spelling the word “neurasthenic.”

Neurasthenic is defined as “a person suffering from neurasthenia, which is nervous exhaustion.”

The national bee weeded out the field during Wednesday’s grueling preliminary rounds. Each of the 291 spellers got the opportunity to spell two words on stage.

Those who didn’t misspell a word were then at the mercy of their score on the written spelling and vocabulary test they took Tuesday, with the top 50 advancing to today’s finals.

This wasn’t the first time Macey had to spell a medical term in a spelling competition.

Macey qualified for the national competition after correctly spelling “sarcoidosis,” which is “a chronic disease of unknown cause characterized by the formation of nodules resembling true tuberculosis lesions on the lymph nodes, lungs, bones, skin and other organs,” at The Vindicator’s bee in March.

She beat out 44 other competitors.

Macey said she feels lucky to have the strong support system she does with family, friends and her school.

“It’s been such a great experience,” she said Wednesday. “It all makes me want to be a better person.”

Her plans for the duration of her trip include taking tours of the area with her family and appreciating their time together.

Meanwhile, 6-year-old Edith Fuller of Tulsa, Okla., had to spell words just as difficult as those everyone else faced in the national bee. But she received one accommodation to her tender age.

When her group of spellers took the stage, Edith was conspicuously absent, her seat empty.

She arrived more than halfway through the two-hour round and sat with her feet dangling over the edge of the chair.

Her parents got permission from Scripps to let Edith spend some of her time offstage while waiting to spell.

“A 6-year-old, sitting in one place, not interacting with anybody, for two hours is the equivalent of torture,” said her father, Justin Fuller. “The spelling bee, the people who are running it, are very sensitive to special needs all across the spectrum and this request was hastily accommodated.”

As for the spelling, she handled that with apparent ease, at least in the first round. Her word was “nyctinasty,” the movement of plants in response to the onset of darkness.

Daniel Larsen of Bloomington, Ind., wore a T-shirt with a realistic likeness of a lion. The animal’s eyes peered out menacingly from behind the name placard hanging from his neck.

“I wore it for the regional spelling bee,” said Daniel, 13. “I thought it would bring me luck. I like lions, also.”

Daniel stood out for another reason. He’s the only competitor to have successfully submitted a crossword puzzle to The New York Times. His puzzle ran this year.

Contributor: Associated press