After 198 spellers were eliminated in the preliminaries on Thursday, the remaining 90 were left to compete in the Quarterfinals of the National Spelling Bee. Here are a few of the Preliminary words:
cacoethes
sinecure
loquacity
galimatias
Pyrrhic
beignet
In the Quarterfinals, later that day, the 90 spellers were whittled down to 45, due to such words as . . .
anxiolytic
brevicaudate
palingenesis
majuscule
heliophobous
quaquaversal
hippotigrine
Today, (Friday) the spellers competed in the semifinals for a place in the championship rounds of the National Spelling Bee. Three rounds were broadcast live on ESPN. Here are some pictures of the setup:
Over the course of three rounds, the 45 became 12. One five-year repeater, stunned the entire audience when he mispelled
secernent. He became a favorite over the years, and many expected him to win this year. He received a standing ovation from the crowd. The semifinals were very exciting to watch. Here are some of the words from the Semifinals:
schneckepyelonephritistrophallacticbulbulcryptococcusissciuromorphsolidungulateKrummholzTonight, the Championship Finals will air live on ABC at 8:00 P.M.
Above is a picture of Tom Bergeron (host of Dancing with the Stars and America's Funniest Home Videos) introducing himself before the audience at the Grand Hyatt as the ABC televised Championship rounds began.
This is a photograph of Paige Kimble (the director of the Bee) introducing Frank Neuhauser, the 94 year-old winner of the first National Spelling Bee in 1925.
Sameer Mishra receives his winning word to become the champion of the 81st National Spelling Bee. 
Here is a photo of me at the final banquet. The banquet began with the arrival of the Color Guard and the playing of the Star Spangled Banner by the Marine Corps band.
In the end, however, the results were given and I was one of the 198 spellers who were eliminated from the Bee. I was very disappointed, but I realized that it was great that I had come this far, and that the skills that I had learned in this experience would stay with me for the rest of my life. 
We saw the Maryland state house, the U.S. naval academy, and went on a cruise of Annapolis Harbor. Here are some pictures of Annapolis:
This is the chapel at the U.S. Naval Academy.
Above is a picture of the marble sarcophagus of John Paul Jones, the first hero of the U.S. Navy.
This is a picture of the Naval Academy.
Tonight for dinner me, my cousin Pat, my cousin Jenny and her husband Christian, and Aunt Barb and my mom went to a Greek restaurant for dinner.
Most of the spellers were spending their time there getting signatures from other spellers for their "Bee Keeper" books. There are 135 boys and 153 girls participating in this year's bee. 26 spellers have at least one relative who has competed in previous national finals. There is 1 second grader, 5 fourth graders, 19 fifth graders, 41 sixth graders, 58 seventh graders, and 164 eighth graders. 
The crew of the spelling bee are mostly college students and many have been involved with the Bee in the past, as spellers themselves or family members of spellers. They all had "Worker Bee" written on the back of their T-Shirts.
When we registered for the bee, we received our survival kit: a red box with all of the tickets, information and the Bee Keeper, an autograph book.
