We are Still Proud of Roy
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Roy Seligman did not win the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday evening, but he made the country proud of his accomplishments when he advanced to the finals of the competition.
The eighth-grader reached the 12th round of the finals when he stumbled on the word ambystoma, which is a class of salamanders that live in the North American region.
Roy spelt it as a-m-b-i-s-t-o-m-a.
Judges initially announced that Ron spelt the word correctly, but later reviewed the audio recording to determine that Ron said -i instead of -y.
Roy, one of the eleven finalists, was eliminated and he joined Vivinsha Veduru and Dhroov Bharatia of Texas for fourth place.
“I feel like I could have gotten it right if I just took my time,” he said on the sidelines of the competition.
Roy said he was still proud of himself.
Other difficult words Roy spelt correctly during the finals were : towhee, glottis, hemiola, telford, physiolatrous, potiche and trophallactic.
Why it matters
The twelve-year-old Lyford Cay School student is the first Bahamian to make to the Finals of the Script Spelling Bee Competition.
State of play
Zaila Avant-Garde of New Orleans, Louisiana, won the competition and became the first African-American to win the coveted title.
Photo credit: John Raoux/AP
