Angela Faith Mamaril, a seventh-grader from Grace Christian Academy on Saipan, tries to remember how to spell “yeomanry” during the preliminary rounds of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C. on Thursday. The 13-year-old was the Guam regional representative at the competition. (Leo Shane III / S&S)
WASHINGTON — Angela Mamaril loves to read, but beyond that she’s not sure why she’s such a good speller.
"I guess all the reading just helped my vocabulary," the 13-year-old said. "I do read a lot."
Mamaril, a 13-year-old from Grace Christian Academy on Saipan, was the Guam regional representative among the 288 spellers in the national capital this week for the tongue-twisting competition.
Top prize in the annual contest is $37,500 in cash plus other goodies, plus the chance to be crowned America’s best speller live on ESPN. But along the way youngsters must navigate words from "agrostologist" to "zoism," most of which leave adults in the crowd scratching their heads.
Mamaril, who has lived on the island her whole life, said shifting from the Guam regional spelling contests to the national competition was a challenge, because the words became more obscure and complex.
She got tripped up in the second round on "yeomanry," defined by bee officials as the small landed proprietors of the middle class.
"It was fun, but I’m pretty disappointed in myself," she said after being eliminated. "I should have gotten that."
Her parents, however, couldn’t have been prouder. Not only did she earn a $50 prize for competing, but the family got its first trip to Washington, D.C. because of her spelling skills.
"We don’t know where it comes from," said her mother, Angelita. "We’re not good spellers at all."
The winner of the competition will be crowned Friday night on ABC.
