A proud spelling tradition continued this afternoon in Denver, where a Smith kid once again came away as Colorado’s wizard of Webster.
It started two years ago, when Jake took first place in the state spelling bee. Alec had his turn hoisting the trophy last year, and now brother Christian has made it a family three-peat.
Christian, 11, outlasted a field of 33 elementary and middle school finalists at the Colorado Convention Center to win the 69th annual event. He spelled “lucigen” correctly to secure a spot at the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 25-29 in Washington D.C.
“My brothers have done it, and now I have done it,” Christian said.
Alexandra Ward, a seventh-grader from Bill Reed Middle School, finished second. Third was a tie between Veronica Lubofsky, a seventh-grader from Cimarron Middle School and Jacob Durso-Sabina, a sixth-grader from Hamilton Middle School.
There was some concern about the future of the bee after the closing of the Rocky Mountain News, which had sponsored the event for decades. Carol Cline, promotion manager with the Denver Newspaper Agency, said the event will continue with The Denver Post as its new sponsor.
While the ding of a bell is typically cause to celebrate in a quiz competitions, it was a dreaded sound to nervous spellers on stage. It pierced through the silence with each incorrect spelling, turning participants into spectators.
Indeed, the most tense moments came in the half-second between finished spellings and the judge’s final decision. As the echo of recited letters vanished into the monotonous hum of the room’s air conditioner, spellers stood frozen at the microphone to see if they would get dinged down.
Each speller was dinged at least once, including Christian Smith as he competed one-on-one with Ward in the final rounds.
“I was really, really anxious to know if I spelled (my words) right or wrong,” he said of bracing himself for the ding.
Christian Smith’s biggest good luck charm may have come while he slept Friday night, when his brother Zack carefully wrote “Good Luck! Spelling bee ’09” across his back in red marker. Even his father, David Smith, said this win was a bit of a surprise.
“Normally, you wouldn’t expect a fifth-grader to win,” he said.
George Plaven: 303-954-1638 or gplaven@denverpost.com
