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For spelling champ, a familiar buzz
Photo by Steven St. JohnTribune
Tribune
Ten-year-old Rajat Singh, of Santa Fe, gets a hug from his mother after finishing second for the second year in a row at The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee. Matthew Evans, 12, a home-schooled seventh-grader from Albuquerque bested all other spellers for the fourth year in a row Saturday to earn a place in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.
Lillian Kelly/Associated Press
Pressure builds on spelling bee competitors (from left) Chase Stewart, Matthew Evans, Natasha Trujillo, Olivia Bergh, Kayli Laney and Mercedes Cantu. Matthew correctly spelled comestibles - items suitable for eating - to beat 33 other spellers from across the state Saturday.
MATTHEW'S WINNING WORDS
carmine, red pigment used for coloring foods and cosmetics
wanton, recklessly or arrogantly disregarding justice, decency or morality
elixir, a cure-all
vernacular, language spoken in a particular place or region
graupel, granular snow pellets
Rottweiler, German-bred dog of tall black cattle dogs
maelstrom, powerful water current that moves in a circular direction
psalm, sacred song or poem used in praise and worship of a deity
charisma, personal magic of leadership arousing loyalty for a public figure
harbinger, foreshadowing of what is to come
pecuniary, consisting of money
decibel, unit for measuring the relative loudness of sounds
comestibles, items suitable to be eaten
BEE WINNERS
First place: Matthew Evans, 12, seventh-grade, Albuquerque home-school cluster, fifth year to compete. The Tribune Lighthouse Trophy and a trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 30 and 31, courtesy of The Tribune; a copy of Webster's Third New International Dictionary and its Addenda Section, copyright 2002, courtesy of Merriam-Webster; and the Samuel Louis Sugarman Award and a $100 U.S. Savings Bond, courtesy of Jay Sugarman.
Second place: Rajat Singh, 10, fifth-grade, Piñon Elementary, Santa Fe County, second year to compete. Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 10th Edition, courtesy of Merriam-Webster; one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online Student Edition, courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica.
Tied for third place: Margaret Downs, 10, fourth-grade, Holy Ghost Catholic School, Highland Cluster, first year to compete; and Molly Montgomery, 9, fourth-grade, Wood Gormley Elementary, Santa Fe County, first year to compete. $20 gift certificate to Amazon.com, courtesy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee; one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online Student Edition, courtesy of Encyclopedia Britannica.
All spellers: Copies of "100 Words Every High School Freshman Should Know" and "100 Words Every Word Lover Should Know," compiled by the editors of the American Heritage Dictionary, an electronic Sudoku game, Tribune calculator, lanyard and key chain, courtesy of The Tribune.
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So there he was, again, for the fifth time in five years, brushing his fingers across the paper in his pocket.
The words on the paper aren't always the same, but Matthew Evans' routine at the spelling bee mike never varies. With precision, he meticulously asks questions, each one the same for each word. Then he almost always gets it right.
It's enough to frustrate most anyone in the audience who has never seen a national bee, but Matthew has a plan, a purpose and a helper.
The 12-year-old seventh-grade home-schooled student from Albuquerque pulled off his fourth consecutive win in The Albuquerque Tribune Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday at Sandia Preparatory School.
On the paper, on this day, was written a Bible verse. His spelling bee style, however, has been developed over five years of competition.
"Could you repeat the word?
"Could you give me a definition?
"Could you use it in a sentence?
"What is the origin?"
He never leaves a question out, even on words as easy for him as psalm, his eighth-round word, which made him grin at his parents, Randy and Helen Evans, and sister Hannah, 10.
His plan is never to rush through a word, but to be certain he has all the information he can squeeze out of the pronouncer before he utters the first letter.
By the time Matthew finished about four rounds of his fastidious spelling, other spellers were beginning to mimic him.
That is, all but Molly Montgomery, a 9-year-old from Santa Fe County, the youngest speller in the competition.
Molly didn't appear nervous at the microphone spelling in front of about 250 people. She never once asked for a definition before enunciating each letter in inselberg and mercerize.
Molly tied for third place with Margaret Downs, 10, representing Albuquerque's Highland cluster. One of six 10-year-olds, Margaret tried to keep her hands from shaking as she waited her turn, but she didn't let that deter her from pulling off words like kohlrabi and raconteur.
Neither of the girls had participated in a regional bee before, but it's almost certain they will again.
Second-place Rajat Singh is also 10 and a fifth-grader who won second place for the second year in a row. Rajat, shy during Saturday's competition, focused on each word, spelling in quiet, but confident, tones, having no trouble with perestroika and iterative.
Those three were the youngest in the competition, which includes fourth- through eighth-graders from 19 counties in northern and central New Mexico.
At the end of 13 rounds, though, it was Matthew who ended other spellers' hopes with comestibles.
And with one more championship behind him, on May 30, he'll head to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., for his fourth shot at besting about 250 spellers.
In 2006, Matthew tied for 14th place. This year, his goal is to make it to the televised portion of the national bee on ABC-TV on the evening of May 31 and to place in the top 10.
Of course, he'd be happy with first place and its $20,000 cash prize.
