Phoebe Smith, speller 375, hugged her friend Melodie Loya, speller 274, when both found out they were finalists. Phoebe, a Pennsylvania eighth grader and Melodie, who lives in New York, have become good friends. They even have matching scrunchies on their wrists.
But Phoebe misspelled, and is out of the competition. Melodie remains.
The word Phoebe got out on is "pelargic,"of or relating to the stork.
Last year, she tied for 10th place. In 2017, she tied for 189th place.
Jeff Zheng, speller 362, is also out.
The Texas eighth grader tied for 42nd place last year and 41st place in 2017. He misspelled "abrazo," an embrace (as of salutation) employed in Latin America.
