Two Bay Area Students End Competition At National Spelling Bee

OXON HILL, Md. (CBS/AP) — Ten of the nation's most poised young spellers have made it to the finals of the 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee, but the Bay Area spellers were not among them.

Seventh-graders Meera Suresh from Warren G. Hyde Middle School in Cupertino and Timothy Yue from Dorris-Eaton School in Walnut Creek did not advance, though they both got their on-stage words correct during Wednesday's preliminary spelling and vocabulary test.

According to the Contra Costa Times, Meera spelled sevruga and carronade correctly, while Timothy nailed toboggan and nuciform.

Meera Suresh beat out 48 competitors at the CBS Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee in March at the KPIX 5 studios in San Francisco by spelling myxovirus in the final round.

The national finalists include several veterans of the competition. Thirteen-year-old Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, is competing for the fifth time. It's her second time in the finals. Her sister, Kavya, won in 2009. If Vanya were to win, they would be the first siblings to accomplish that feat.

The remaining spellers will compete on Thursday for more than $37,000 in cash and prizes. Thursday's rounds will be televised on ESPN.

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