68th Scripps National Spelling Bee

68th Scripps National Spelling Bee

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The Capital Hilton, site of the 68th National Spelling Bee
Date May 31-June 1, 1995
Location Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C.
Winner Justin Tyler Carroll
Age 14
Residence Wynne, Arkansas
Sponsor The Commercial Appeal
Sponsor location Memphis, Tennessee
Winning word xanthosis
No. of contestants 247
Preceded by 67th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by 69th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 68th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held on May 31 and June 1, 1995, at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C., sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.[1]

Top contestants

14-year-old Justin Tyler Carroll from Wynne, Arkansas won the competition on June 1 by correctly spelling the word "xanthosis".[2] Carroll was sponsored by Memphis, Tennessee Commercial Appeal as winner of the Memphis-Shelby County Spelling Bee, where he beat a field of contestants which happened to include a young Justin Timberlake.[3] Carroll was the third ever winner of the Memphis bee to win the national competition, following Irving Belz in the 1951 competition and Geoff Hooper in the 1993 competition.

Marjory Lavery, a 13-year-old home schooler from Copley, Ohio, placed second after failing to correctly spell "cappelletti" in the 10th round.[2] There was a three-way tie for third place between Jenelle Jindal, 13, of Princeton, New Jersey, Ryan M. Burke, 13, of Orange, Connecticut (who finished 21st the prior year), and 12-year-old Vauhini Vara of Edmond, Oklahoma.[4][5][6]

Competition

The Bee had 247 contestants, the largest to date at that time.[7] Contestants ranged from age 9 (three contestants) to 15, and including 45 repeat entrants.[2][8] Sisters Wendy Guey (who finished 27th), age 11, and Emily Guey (who finished 59th), 13, were the first siblings to reach the same finals. Wendy would go on to win the Bee in her fourth consecutive competition the next year.[7][9]

Thirty-eight spellers were eliminated on their opening words, which were drawn from a list of 3,000 words provided to the contestants.[8] After the first day of competition, the number of spellers was reduced to 135.[10] The final rounds were aired on ESPN2.[5] A total of 835 words were used in the competition.[2]

The competition was held at the Capital Hilton, where it had been held since 1980. The competition moved to the larger Grand Hyatt Washington the next year.

References

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