Lahaina 7th-grader Maui District champ
By Christie Wilson
Advertiser Neighbor Island Editor
KAHULUI, Maui — Lahaina Intermediate School seventh-grader Joni Celiz missed her team's basketball game yesterday, but she still scored big by winning the 2004 Maui District Spelling Bee, held at Maui Waena Intermediate School.
Besting 22 other spellers from three islands, she won in the 11th round by spelling "photon." A three-way tie for second place extended the contest five more rounds until Kalama Intermediate eighth-grader Jasmine Siefman emerged as runner-up for the second year in a row.
CELIZ
Both Celiz and Siefman will represent the Maui District at the State Spelling Bee, to be held March 14 in Honolulu. The winner advances to the 77th Annual Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, set for May 26 to 28 in Washington.
Celiz, 12, is the daughter of Pablo and Leandra Celiz of Lahaina. Siefman, 13, is the daughter of Robert and Marilyn Siefman of Kula.
The winner said she had not even intended to enter her school's bee and really didn't spend a lot of time studying. Celiz, who had come in second at Lahaina Intermediate, said that winning the Maui District bee was a surprise. "It feels really cool. I wasn't even going to join but my friends signed me up," she said.
Celiz, who plays forward on her co-ed team, said she prefers basketball but missed a game so she could participate in yesterday's bee.
The spelloff for second place included eighth-graders Cody Tacderas of Lana'i High & Elementary and Claire Barroga of 'Iao Intermediate.
Siefman claimed second after successfully spelling such words as "plutonian," "counterpane" and "fronds."
