Local Spellers Tripped Up Early In Bee

Two area seventh-graders represented the Inland Northwest in the 72nd annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee Wednesday.

Neither survived the opening round.

Stephanie Tobin, 13, of Quincy, Wash., received the word “jurimetrician” during the morning session.

“My first reaction was like, `Whoa,’ because I’d never heard the word before,” Tobin said. “I just took a guess and hoped I’d got it right.”

She spelled the word, a term for someone who studies the law, g-er-i-m-a-t-r-i-c-i-a-n.

Despite missing early in the competition, Tobin said she enjoyed her experience with the other 248 contestants, ranging in age from 9 to 15 years old.

A music enthusiast who plays oboe and piano, Tobin would like to pursue a career in music. She also likes to read, play volleyball and basketball, swim and work with computers.

In the afternoon session, Karli McIntyre, 13, of Lewiston, Idaho, missed the word “katabatic,” a meteorological term for a downward wind or air current.

McIntyre began the word with a “c” instead of a “k.”

She said she fit studying for the spelling bee into a whirlwind schedule of other activities. McIntyre occupies her time outside school with interests ranging from sports to Girl Scouts.

Her dream is to become an astrophysicist.

Tobin and McIntyre were the first of the area’s competitors to be eliminated. None of the seven spellers from Washington and Idaho advanced to today’s closing rounds, which will be broadcast at 5 p.m. on ESPN2.

The winner receives $10,000 cash, a trophy, a $1,000 savings bond, a set of encyclopedias and various other prizes.