WASHINGTON — Fourteen-year-old Talmage Nakamoto of the Big Island beat out more than 250 other spellers yesterday to advance to the semifinal rounds of the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

"I'm really surprised and a little scared," said the smiling eighth-grader from Konawaena Middle School as his parents and teachers congratulated him.

Talmage got 24 out of 25 words right on a written test in Round 1, then went on to spell both his words right on stage in Rounds 2 and 3. He is one of only 41 spellers to progress to today's semifinal rounds.

This is Talmage's second time representing Hawai'i in the national competition.

"I'm a bit calmer this year because I know more what to expect," he said. "I don't look at the cameras when I'm on stage. I look at the judges and try to focus. It is kind of fun up there."

Talmage became the state's spelling champ for the second consecutive year after successfully spelling "bombilation" in The Honolulu Advertiser's 24th Hawaii State Spelling Bee in March. The word means a humming sound or a booming.

Spelling ability runs in Talmage's family. His older brother, Teagan, was the Big Island spelling champion in 2005 and 2006.

Talmage is a voracious reader who reads up to three books a day.

To prepare for the national bee, he practiced more than two hours a week with his English teacher and also worked at home with his parents, Shan and Traci Nakamoto.

Se Young Hwang of Guam spelled her two words correctly on stage yesterday, but the 13-year-old from Mariana Baptist Academy didn't score high enough on an earlier written test to advance to the bee semifinals.

This year's bee, at the Grand Hyatt hotel in Washington, involves a record number of spellers — 293. They come from all 50 states, the District of Columbia, four U.S. territories, and China, Europe, Canada, South Korea, New Zealand, Ghana, Jamaica and the Bahamas.

Spellers range in age from 9 to 15. Of the 293, 150 are boys and 143 are girls.

Last year's winner was 13-year-old Sameer Mishra of West Lafayette, Ind., who correctly spelled "guerdon," which means a reward, to take the championship.

This year's champion will win $30,000 in cash, a $5,000 scholarship, a $2,500 savings bond and other prizes.