The Kennebec Journal

Winner has appetite for exotic

By Edward D. Murphy emurphy@mainetoday.com
Staff Writer

PORTLAND — No, she doesn't care for Mexican food.

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Maine State Spelling Bee w

Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

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Second-place finisher Emmanuel Gallucci, representing Waldo County

Shawn Patrick Ouellette/Staff Photographer

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COUNTY CHAMPION SPELLERS

ANDROSCOGGIN: Rayna Fa-Xin Knight, St. Michael School

AROOSTOOK: Joshua Stover, Wisdom Middle High School

CUMBERLAND: Lily Jordan, Cape Elizabeth Middle School

FRANKLIN: Hanna L. Deon, Mount Blue Middle School

HANCOCK: Christopher Grindle, Bucksport Middle School

KNOX: Matthew Clark, Camden-Rockport Middle School

LINCOLN: Hunter Marie Herron, Bristol Consolidated School

OXFORD: Olivia Ruhlin, Sacopee Valley Middle School

PENOBSCOT: Lily Koffman, Orono Middle School

SOMERSET: William Wescott, Warsaw Middle School

WALDO: Emmanuel Gallucci, Samuel L. Wagner Middle School

WASHINGTON: Meg Moulton, Bay Ridge Elementary School

YORK: Noah Farrington, TEACH Homeschool Group

But that didn't stop Lily Jordan of Cape Elizabeth from plowing through "chimichanga," "quesadilla," "chipotle" and "enchilada," en route to a rather unfortunate final word – "salmonella" – to win the Maine State Spelling Bee on Saturday.

Jordan, a seventh-grader, topped 12 other county spelling champs to claim a trophy, a T-shirt, a very large dictionary and a trip to Washington, D.C., for the North American finals in June. The Maine State bee was sponsored by Maine Today Media, which publishes the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, the Kennebec Journal and Waterville Sentinel daily newspapers, the weekly Coastal Journal in Bath and their respective websites.

Lily is the daughter of Glenn and Nancy Jordan of Cape Elizabeth, and has two brothers, Nat and Jacob, both 10. Glenn Jordan is a sportswriter for the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday Telegram and Nancy Jordan is a freelance editor for English as a Second Language materials.

In Maine, 13 counties hold bees to find the elite (Jordan's word in round 3) who have spelling expertise (Lily Koffman, Orono, round 5) and can roll through the rounds like a juggernaut (Emmanuel Gallucci, Winterport, round 11) while handling the angst (Gallucci, round 16) of spelling on command in front of friends and family in Hannaford Hall at the University of Southern Maine's Portland campus.

Foreign words, or words with non-English roots, tripped up quite a few of the spellers.

Mahi-mahi, the subtropical fish species, claimed one victim in the second round, while gordita, a type of tortilla, knocked out a speller in the third and purga – a Siberian snowstorm – caught another in round 8.

Sayonara meant an exit for another speller in round 12 and homburg – the hat – capped the day for Koffman in round 17. She had an endearing and apparently effective practice of spelling each word with her finger on her palm before reciting it for the judges, but she came up with "homberg" while in the final three.

That left Gallucci and Jordan to battle it out for the top spot.

Jordan landed "sevruga" (a species of sturgeon) surprisingly easily and Gallucci had no problem with "adjacent," In Round 19, Jordan rolled through enchilada and Gallucci needed no help from above with "providence." But in the next round, Jordan handled "meticulous" cleanly but Gallucci left the last e off "ampere," a measure of electricity.

It wasn't over for Jordan, however. Once the bee is down to a single speller, that student needs to spell one more word correctly, or else the speller who missed has a second life. As Judge Michael Ashmore said, "you've got to win by two."

But Jordan spelled "salmonella" as she had all the others – clearly and calmly – to win the title.

Gallucci admitted after that he wasn't entirely heartbroken with the loss, because the trip to D.C. would have caused him to miss a class trip to Boston in June.

But he still tried his best, he told his mother, Laura Gallucci.

"If I had wanted to throw it, I would have put another 'a' in 'succotash' (round 12)," he said.

As for Jordan, her proud father claimed that she was spell-checking his stories as an infant.

If it seemed as if there was a theme to Jordan's words, which also included "spaghetti" and "carnivore," Ashmore said that's not the case. The words, he said, come from a master list and are given out in order, so there should be no ambiguity (round 10) about the words each speller is given.

Staff Writer Edward D. Murphy can be contacted at 791-6465 or at:

emurphy@pressherald.com