L-E-T-T-E-R P-E-R-F-E-C-T
| Doug Ward | |
| Vancouver Sun |
Monday, March 14, 2005
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West Vancouver student Tracey Hinder emerged as the apotheosis of cool under pressure Sunday, winning the CanWest CanSpell regional spelling bee, after the capitulation of Delta student Nicaela Weigel in the event's closing spell-off.
Hinder, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student at West Vancouver Secondary, spelled 'capitulation' correctly and then won by nailing the word apotheosis at the Vancouver Sun provincial final held at the Stanley Theatre.
"I studied so many words, but I think I did study 'apotheosis' once," Hinder said afterwards. "I also studied 'capitulation' on Saturday."
Hinder's victory was a dramatic ending to four hours of extreme spelling that began with 50 competitors from schools around B.C., except for Vancouver Island.
The words given by pronouncer Kirk LaPointe, managing editor of The Vancouver Sun, became progressively more difficult during the contest as the number of competitors dwindled to the final two.
Some of the students held the microphone confidently, and easily recalled the right letters. Others spelled the words slowly and with trepidation, clearly hoping that their letters would match the pronunciation of a word they couldn't totally remember. Some looked at the three-member panel of judges with surprise when the bell that signals a mistake did not ring.
Both Hinder and runner-up Weigel will be competing in the CanWest CanSpell National Spelling Bee in Ottawa on April 16 for the first-place prize of a $10,000 educational fund and their name etched on the CanWest CanSpell Cup.
And Hinder will be one of 11 regional winners across Canada who will compete later in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Tristan Brett, from Eugene Reimer middle school in Abbotsford, looked strong throughout the event, but finished third after being hit with the arcane word prosody, which means the study of the metrical structure of verse.
Runner-up Weigel said she was happy to have finished second against a field of mostly older competitors. She had studied the fatal word capitulation, but her memory failed her.
"Nicaela never spelled that word [capitulation] wrong before," said her mother, Marie Weigel. "But that's all right. Ottawa is good.
"When it got down to the two competitors, I could see her nerves getting to her. But good for her, she's 11. She can compete in this for two more years."
Nicaela Weigel is no stranger to success. Last year, Nicaela and her twin sister, Shelbie, played the same character in a TV movie The Five People You Meet In Heaven, based on the novel of the same name by Mitch Albom.
Todd Weigel said he thought his daughter would do well: "What can I say: I'm an extremely proud father. I'm holding back the tears.
"But she's an overachiever. I thought she would get pretty far. But all the sisters, they really drive each other."
While memory and hard work were the key factors, luck played a role too. As in any spelling bee, some words were tougher than others.
The young spellers also had to keep their composure while four TV cameras moved around covering every moment.
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"You have to sort of pretend there is no camera there. It makes it easier for you to spell," said Rachel Davidson of Collingwood School in West Vancouver, who fell out in the third round.
A few of the participants were visibly crestfallen when they mis-spelled a word and found themselves walking off the stage. They were quickly ushered downstairs into a makeshift comfort room where they were offered solace, along with drinks and snacks.
"Oh, I'm so stupid. I don't know how I missed that," lamented Oliver Telfor to a volunteer comforter, who assured the West Sechelt Elementary student that he wasn't stupid.
As Telfor explained how he knew he had erred even before completing his word, another one of the fallen, Tori Caswell of Pacific Academy in Surrey, arrived and shouted: "I screwed up on jerkin -- jerkin!
"But this is just for fun. And I like reading, so I got extra reading privileges."
Christopher Dodds, of Vancouver, was angry with his abrupt exit late in the competition. "I'm disappointed and surprised. I'm feeling mad at myself."
Tears welled in the eyes of Brandon Sanderson, a precocious 10-year-old from Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Vancouver who had a smile all afternoon until after his last word.
Sanderson admitted later that he had guessed his way through at least one other word, so he was pleased to have made it to round five.
"Hopefully, I'll get this far again next year," he said.
CHALLENGING...:
Sunday's winning word:
Apotheosis
Some other tough ones from the competition:
Centurion
Diverticulum
Corpuscle
Xylograph
Arthurian
Affidavit
Ran with fact box "Challenging...", which has been appended to the end of the story.
