SPELLER'S SECRET: STUDY LIKE CRAZY

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SUNDAY, April 4, 1993                   TAG: 9304040083
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: D-1   EDITION: METRO  
SOURCE: By DAVID M. POOLE STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium
SPELLER'S SECRET: STUDY LIKE CRAZY
Jennifer O'Meara learned the hard way last year when she didn't study for the regional spelling bee.
She was eliminated in the first round when she missed "burglar" - one of those simple words anyone in the contest should have been able to spell backwards.
"I figured that wouldn't work again, so I really studied hard this year," she said.
Her diligence paid off Saturday when she won top honors at the annual Southwest Virginia Regional Spelling Bee at the Airport Sheraton Inn.
O'Meara, an eighth-grader at Roanoke Catholic School, gained a chance to compete at the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee scheduled for May 30 in Washington, D.C.
The regional event, sponsored by the Roanoke Times & World-News, featured the top spellers from 18 school districts in Southwest Virginia.
Fourteen contestants made it through three rounds of beginning words such as "grenade," "bamboozle," "lullaby" and "aerial."
The winnowing process picked up speed as the contest entered the fourth round. Several dropped out when they stumbled on intermediate words like "chattel," "kitsch," "sabotage," "maladroit" and - yes - "ignoramus."
Five spellers made it to the ninth round and the advanced words.
Anne Vogleweed, a seventh-grader from Smyth County, and Erin Porter, an eighth-grader from Northside Junior High in Roanoke County, finished in a tie for fourth place.
Elaine Banvard, a fifth-grader from Raleigh Court Elementary in Roanoke, finished third.
The contest came down to a face-off between two eighth-graders - Lorie Hoover from Staunton River Middle School in Bedford County and O'Meara.
Each was flawless for the next three rounds. Then Hoover missed "aubade" (a piece of music composed for performance in the morning) and O'Meara nailed "glycogen" (a polysaccharide, produced and stored in animal tissues, especially in the liver and muscles, and changed into glucose as the body needs it.)
The judges declared O'Meara the winner and quickly reversed themselves after consulting the rules. They decided O'Meara would have to spell one more word to become the champion. If she missed, Hoover would get another chance.
O'Meara won it for good by spelling "discalced" (an adjective for barefooted).
A smile spread across her face, revealing a set of braces, as her parents and friends whooped with joy.
In addition to an all-expenses-paid week in Washington, O'Meara won a set of Encyclopaedia Britannica and $100 in cash.
This was the third year in a row that O'Meara, 13, represented private and parochial schools in the regional spelling bee. She is the daughter of Michael and Susan O'Meara.
Jennifer O'Meara studied an hour each day to prepare for this year's event. Working with the Scripps Howard study guide, she even looked up each of the 1,000 advanced words in the dictionary to learn how they are pronounced.
Will she keep up her regimen for the national contest?
O'Meara said she will allow herself a little rest before gearing up for the big day.

by Bhavesh Jinadra by CNB