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

DATE: FRIDAY, April 1, 1994                   TAG: 9404010099
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-4   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA'S TOP SPELLERS SEEK CHANCE AGAINST NATION'S BEST

A-B-C may be as easy as 1-2-3, but students are likely to encounter much tougher combinations of letters as they vie for a chance to compete against the nation's top spellers.

The 1994 Roanoke Times & World-News Spelling Bee Championship will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday at the Sheraton Inn Roanoke Airport. The competition will feature the winners of the division spelling bees held at schools for grades 5-8. The public is invited.

The 18 contestants, derived from a field of 25,000 spellers, will compete, with the winner going on to represent Southwest Virginia in the National Spelling Bee. The national event will be held May 29-June 4 in Washington, D.C. A parent will accompany the winner on this expense-paid trip.

Saturday's first-place winner also receives $100; the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award; a $50 U.S. Series EE Savings Bond; the Encyclopaedia Britannica; Merriam-Webster's Third New International Dictionary with its Addenda section; and a Franklin WordMaster 1055, an electronic spelling game.

The second-place contestant will receive Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary and Thesaurus; the third-place speller will receive the Random House Word Menu reference book; and the fourth-place finisher will receive The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy.

These students are to represent their school divisions in the competition:

Emily Abbott, Craig County; Jonathan Cohen, Roanoke County; Tracy Ervin, Giles County; Elizabeth Fabian, Salem; Allison Flores, Bedford County; Jaya Gideon, Botetourt County; Daniel Harmon, private and parochial schools; Whitney Hodges, Franklin County; Roland T. Lovelace Jr., Roanoke;

Katherine Ann McCain, Pulaski County; Zachary Pauley, Bland County; Lara Profitt, Floyd County; Christopher Purcell, Montgomery County; Sarah Sanders, Wythe County; Jessica Tate, Covington; Mark Tong, Radford; Carrie Vest, Alleghany Highlands schools; and Sarah Waller, Smyth County.

by CNB