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

DATE: FRIDAY, June 3, 1994                   TAG: 9406030128
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: B-3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: TODD JACKSON
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

ROANOKE YOUTH PROVES SPELLING SKILL

Jonathon Cohen, a seventh-grader at Roanoke County's Hidden Valley Junior High School, bowed out of the 67th annual National Spelling Bee during the seventh round Thursday.

The contest - held at the Capitol Hilton Hotel in Washington, D.C. - was won in the 15th round by 13-year-old Ned Andrews, a seventh-grader from Knoxville, Tenn. The winning word was "antediluvian," meaning ancient, or dating to before the biblical flood.

The word that tripped Cohen was "epilithic" (growing on stones).

Cohen correctly spelled the words "neophyte" (newly planted, or a beginner or novice), "inerrancy" (making no mistakes) and "filipendulous" (suspended by a thread).

Cohen, 12, said he is looking forward to returning to the competition next year.

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.

by CNB