Story highlights
- Young student does not reach Thursday's semifinals
- Lori Anne tripped up by second word of the day
- The second-grader is one of 278 competitors this year
- Spellers range in age from 6 to 15
Lori Anne Madison, 6, stepped boldly Wednesday afternoon to the microphone, lowered it a bit to fit her height, and took on the word "ingluvies" at the National Spelling Bee.
The youngest person ever to compete in the bee stumbled on the term for a bird's craw, spelling it "engluvies." Earlier, she correctly spelled "dirigible."
Although Lori Anne did not make the cut of 50 semifinalists for Thursday, she won a round of applause from fellow competitors and those in the audience.
Spellers took a written test on Tuesday, and those results figured into the selection of semifinalists.
The competition concludes Thursday night.
Blind girl goes to national spelling bee 02:11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Snigdha Nandipati, 14, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night by properly spelling "guetapens," which means an ambush snare or trap.
Hide Caption
1 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Sumaita Mulk of Goodyear, Arizona, celebrates on Thursday, May 31, at the Scripps National Spelling Bee after she correctly spelled her word during the fourth round. Fifty spellers advanced to compete in the semifinals on the last day of the competition.
Hide Caption
2 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Spectators photograph the contestants during the third round of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland, on Wednesday, May 30.
Hide Caption
3 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Spellers anxiously wait their turn during the third round. There were 278 spellers in the 85th annual competition.
Hide Caption
4 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Six-year-old Lori Anne Madison was the youngest participant at the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Hide Caption
5 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Contestants wait during the third round.
Hide Caption
6 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Abigail Violet Spitzer, left, of El Paso, Texas, celebrates with fellow competitors after she correctly spelled her word during the fourth round.
Hide Caption
7 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Lori Anne Madison adjusts the microphone before spelling a word Wednesday. She failed to make it to the finals of the annual competition.
Hide Caption
8 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Samantha Steele thinks hard about her word during the second round.
Hide Caption
9 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Speller Lena Greenberg of Philadelphia covers her face during round 9 of the competition after she misspelled the word "geistlich." Greenberg was eliminated from the competition.
Hide Caption
10 of 11
Photos: The Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee – Snigdha Nandipati holds the trophy after winning the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.
Hide Caption
11 of 11
Lori Anne, a second-grader, joined 277 other contestants at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She defeated 21 children in the regional bee in Prince William County in Virginia.
She won by spelling the word "vaquero," the Spanish translation of "cowboy" often used in parts of the South.
While she loves spelling, Lori Anne has other interests as well.
She likes to study while swinging upside down or jumping on her trampoline, according to her bio on the event's website. She's also a competitive swimmer, has won math and science awards, and takes karate, dance and tennis classes.
Since 1993, there have been four spellers who were 8 years old, said Mike Hickerson, the bee's communications manager.
Incentives include a $30,000 cash prize, an engraved trophy, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a $5,000 scholarship.
Spellers range between ages 6 and 15, and come from all 50 states and U.S. territories. They include competitors from other nations, including China, Canada, Ghana and Japan.
The National Spelling Bee started in 1925 under a collaboration among nine newspapers. In 1941, Scripps assumed sponsorship of the event. It was not held during the war years of 1943-45.
