Deneiro Hines was eliminated in the preliminary round of U.S. Scripps National Spelling Bee held in Washington, D.C. on Wednesday. The Preliminaries is the first of two distinct segments of the competition, Preliminaries and Finals.
During the oral spelling onstage, the 12-year-old Jamaican correctly spelt the two words given to him in Rounds 2 and 3. However, Deneiro failed the written test in Round 1, which consists of written spelling items and multiple choice vocabulary items (Preliminaries Test) administered on Tuesday.
Deneiro Hines eliminated based on points
He scored 20 points out of the maximum 36. Each speller had to score at least 29 points on the written test to advance to Finals. The spellers could earn up to 30 points on the Preliminaries Test, three points for correctly spelling in Round Two and three points for correctly spelling in Round Three.
All 291 Bee spellers were on stage Wednesday for Round Two. Those who spelt correctly in Round Two returned for Round Three in the afternoon.
#speller122 7th grader Deneiro Hines from Jamaica spelled the word limacoid (like a slug) correctly #spellingbee #D in BeePlayAlong
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 31, 2017
At the end of the Round 3, 71 spellers misspelt were eliminated which left 188 spellers remaining. A total of 40 has advanced to Thursday’s finals. According to the rules, no more than 50 spellers should advance to the next round.
#speller122 Deneiro Hines from Jamaica spelled the word regnant (exercising rule or authority) correctly #spellingbee #C in BeePlayAlong
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) May 31, 2017
After some tense moments and a few bouts of levity in Round 3, Deneiro and audience alike waited with bated breath to find out who would advance to the finals.
Preliminaries Test
The Preliminaries Test has 26 written and multiple-choice items divided into four sections, with spellers identifying their responses on test forms as outlined in the contest rules. A speller receives one point for each of the 12 items spelled correctly in the Round One Spelling section, one point for each of the 12 items identified correctly in the Round One Vocabulary section, three points for a correct answer to the single item in the Round Two Vocabulary section, and three points for a correct answer to the single item in the Round Three Vocabulary section.
The 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals kicks off tomorrow without Deneiro the on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. ET. Then at 8:30 p.m. on ESPN for the conclusion of this year’s national finals.
Congratulations to all of our spellers on a fantastic day. Our 40 finalists have been set! Visit spellingbee.c… https://t.co/S3bhe7StZU pic.twitter.com/gKHx5yisQw
— NationalSpellingBee (@ScrippsBee) June 1, 2017
