That’s a w-r-a-p. South Florida spellers stumble in national Bee’s quarterfinals
Nerves hit Juan Cristóbal Rondeau as soon as he heard his word in the fourth round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee — euryhaline.
“The beginning was really tricky,” said the 13-year-old, who just finished seventh grade at Westminster Christian School in Palmetto Bay.
He guessed — spelling it u-r-i-h-a-l-i-n-e (Euryhaline organisms can live in fresh or salt water.) Then he heard the dreaded ding.
Though disappointed, Juan said he was proud of himself and is already looking forward to competing in next’s year’s Bee.
“I think I am going to try even harder next year because it will be my last year,” said Juan, who will be in the eighth grade, which is the last year to qualify for the national Bee. “There’s a lot that I need to work on.”
Juan, who won the Miami Herald Spelling Bee for Miami-Dade and Monroe counties, and Brody Santos, 12, who won the Broward Bee, both represented South Florida in the national competition at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland, from May 31 to June 2.
Both spellers made it to the quarterfinals — Round 4 — and stumbled. The final round was set to take place Thursday night.
Brody, who just finished seventh grade at St. Mark’s Episcopal School in Fort Lauderdale, said he had studied a list of 3,400 words and took a crash course to prepare, but knows he has a “lot more work to do.” He wants to return next year as well.
“I am going to study hard,” he said. “I am going to focus on roots for the next year and really try to get a grasp on Latin and Greek.”
Brody said being with other spellers and seeing how hard they have studied have motivated him.
“I can be in their shoes, too, if I work hard enough,” he said.
For Juan, who qualified last year as well and misspelled in the preliminaries, just being able to attend in person was exciting.
“This was better because it wasn’t virtual,” he said. “I have gained a lot of knowledge. It’s impressive seeing how hard work pays off.”
Juan’s dad, who has the same name as his son, said this has been a learning experience for the entire family.
“Seeing the amount of commitment from the spellers has been quite amazing,” he said, adding that he is proud of his son for making it as far as he did. “We told him from the beginning that just making it here is a feat in itself.”
This story was originally published June 2, 2022 at 5:57 PM.
