Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406020064
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Three of those words - "auslander," "purview," and "repugnant" - rolled off the tongue of Jonathon Cohen, contestant No. 22, with dictionary preciseness.
"I had to think about all of [the words]," said the Hidden Valley Junior High School seventh-grader in a phone interview Wednesday evening, "but I was familiar with all of them."
Cohen and 151 other spellers still alive in the contest will vie for first place today in a ballroom at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Wednesday's contestants were called to a podium one by one. Cohen said he was nervous but kept in mind that "just getting here was an accomplishment."
He earned the chance to compete against the nation's top spellers by winning the Roanoke Times & World-News Spelling Bee Championship on April 2. The winning word: resolvancy.
Cohen is representing Roanoke County at the national contest.
The competition lasted nearly eight hours Wednesday. A total of 37 spellers fell in the first round, 19 in the second and 30 in the third.
The tension was evident as the bee began. Some youngsters gripped the microphone, while others twisted their hands almost prayerfully. A few couldn't resist the urge to punch their fists in the air and cry, ``Yes!'' when they spelled their words correctly.
The champion is expected to be crowned late today, after a dozen or more rounds of competition and hundreds of words. The winner receives $5,000 and other prizes.
The contestants are all local or regional spelling bee champions and represent 48 states - all except Delaware and Vermont - along with the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
by CNB