2 more districts crown spelling champs
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
Spelling bees were held in Hilo and in Kaimuki yesterday to determine the Hawai'i district and Honolulu district champions.
Appropriately enough, Hilo Intermediate School's Julia King spelled "exultant" correctly in the eighth round of the Hawai'i District bee to become the Big Island's top speller for the year.
King, 13, also spelled "simultaneously," "ennoble," "theatrical" and "covenant" correctly to emerge at the head of 18 competitors from a dozen Big Island public and private schools yesterday.
The runner-up was Hannah Katibah, a St. Joseph School seventh-grader who correctly spelled "corduroy" in a tie-breaking spell-off with Haili Christian School's Randy Drake to advance to the statewide bee.
This year was Katibah's first year competing in the spelling bee, and the second year of competition for King, an eighth-grader.
King said her secret is "I read a lot. I read and read and read."
The Honolulu district bee was held at Sacred Hearts Academy in Kaimuki, where 28 spellers from 14 schools competed for about an hour and a half.
Emerging as the winner was Matthew Iguchi, 13, an eighth-grader at Kawananakoa School. The winning word: "flammeous."
Runner-up was Samantha Juntilla, 13, a seventh-grader at St. Patrick's School. Although she missed the word "thalanx" in the 16th round, she will join Iguchi in state competition.
The district champion and runner-up in each of seven districts statewide qualify for The Honolulu Advertiser State Spelling Bee, which will be shown on KFVE at 5 p.m. March 30.
The 14 district winners will receive gifts from Sears, Island Heritage, Consolidated Theatres and Anderson News Co., along with spelling bee merchandise.
Supporting sponsors for this year's state competition are Island Heritage, Aloha Airlines and CompUSA.
The State Spelling Bee champion also wins an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to compete in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in May; a Webster's Third New International Dictionary; a $200 Sears merchandise certificate; a $100 U.S. Savings Bond from Jay Sugarman; a PDA hand-held computer from RadioShack; a $100 cash award from Dede and James Sutherland; and a gift basket from Island Heritage.
Travel for Neighbor Island participants is provided by Aloha Airlines.
The remaining district bee is:
- Leeward district, 7 p.m. Thursday, Kapolei Middle School.
Correction: The Leeward District Spelling Bee will be at 7 p.m. Thursday at Kapolei Middle School. A previous version of this story had an incorrect date.
