WASHINGTON -- Molly Dieveney, a 12-year-old sixth grader from Denver, Colo., today successfully spelled the word 'psoriasis' to win the 55th National Spelling Bee.
She defeated 13-year-old Uma Rao, of Pittsburgh, in the 12th round of the bee.
Uma tripped on the word 'contretemps.' Uma spelled it 'contreton.' Molly then spelled correctly, winning the event's $1,000 prize, a trophy and a plaque.
Molly attends the Notre Dame Elementary School in Denver, and this year was coached by the mother of Jacques Bailly, who won the national spelling contest two years ago.
Last year's runner-up, Jason Johnson, 13 of St. Joseph, Mich., came in third this year, misspelling the word 'gauleiter.'
Molly, who at 4 feet one inch tall was one of the shortest contestants on stage, said she studied at least 45 minutes a day except for last week when 'I had pneumonia.'
'I'm excited,' the teary-eyed winner said, clutching the big gold trophy cup that looked almost as big as she was.
Asked what she planned to do with the $1,000 she won, she said she would bank half of it and 'go shopping with the rest.'
Fifty-four youngsters out of the 126 regional finalists made it into today's final rounds, where the words got harder and harder. Among those tossed out at the spellers were 'labyrinthine,' 'avoirdupois,' 'fianchetto,' 'rhyton,' and 'gazpacho.' All were spelled incorrectly.
Last year's runner-up, Jason Johnson, 13 of St. Joseph, Mich., came in third this year, misspelling the word 'gauleiter.'
Molly, who at 4-feet one-inch tall was one of the shortest contestants on stage, said she studied at least 45 minutes a day except for last week when 'I had pneumonia.'
'I'm excited,' the teary-eyed winner said, clutching the big gold trophy cup that looked almost as big as she was.
Asked what she planned to do with the $1,000 she won, she said she would bank half of it and 'go shopping with the rest.'
Fifty-four youngsters out of the 126 regional finalists made it into today's final rounds, where the words got harder and harder. Among those tossed out at the spellers were 'labyrinthine,' 'avoirdupois,' 'fianchetto,' 'rhyton,' and 'gazpacho.' All were spelled incorrectly.
Among the 54 youngsters advancing to today's final rounds was Jennifer Lynn Burns, 13, of Haddonfield, N.J. Tuesday night she practiced with a dictionary, and Wednesday perfectly rattled off 'g-l-o-g-g,' a word for a Swedish drink she spotted during her workout the night before.
Seventy-two other youngsters, however, were bounced by such toughies as 'dysbarism,' 'caduceus' and 'rutilant.'
Overall, there were 81 girls and 45 boys in the finals, aged 10 to 15.
Wednesday, nine of the youngsters were ousted in the first round, 22 in the second, eight in the third and 33 in the fourth round, with the words growing progressively harder.
The first word to claim a victim was 'cajolery,' which tripped up 12-year-old Jennifer Ramos, a sixth grader from Montville, Conn.
Some contestants barely held back tears when the judges rang the bell to show they misspelled a word. Others grinned in embarrassment. A staff member led eliminated participants away from the hotelballroom platform, an arm around their shoulders, to audience applause.
Nerves ran high. A few children looked like they had 'naupathia' - a word for seasick that one competitor correctly spelled -- and two became visibly ill.
But there were a few loose moments too. Asked to spell the word 'cacophony,' Molly, the eventual winner, asked a contest official, 'Is it Greek?'
'To me, it is,' he replied. She spelled it correctly.
Jonathan Kluttz, 13, of Salisbury, N.C., got a big hand and a big laugh for correctly spelling 'contrapposto.' Angie Zakrzewski of Mobile, Ala., stumbled on 'sesquipedalian,' but was roundly applauded for trying.
Contest officials say about 8.5 million youngsters participated in bees at the local level to reach the finals.
The 126 regional champions represent Scripps-Howard newspapers in 14 cities and 109 other daily and Sunday newspapers. The New York Daily News, The Philadelphia Inquirer and The San Juan Star each have two contestants.
