Cathy Deng wins State Spelling Bee

Cathy Deng, an eighth grader at Hilsman Middle School, won the State Spelling Bee today at Georgia Student University in Atlanta.

A news release from the Georgia Association of Educators follows:

One hundred and twenty-four words over seven rounds. That’s how long it took 13-year-old Cathy (Qian) Deng from Hilsman Middle School in Clarke County to overcome what she thought was an elimination early on to become the winner of the 47th Annual Georgia Association of Educators State Spelling Bee. In round six, Cathy was initially eliminated after spelling the word “concomitant” but was reinstated by the panel of judges after discussion about pronunciation. “I was so happy to get back in that I didn’t remember anything,” Cathy exclaimed.

Cathy fought off a challenge by 13-year-old Logan Austin from Bennett’s Mill Middle School in Fayette County. The two both missed some very challenging words such as pettifoggery, cornichon, ochlophobia, and elision. Logan then misspelled the word “tergiversate,” which Cathy then spelled correctly. She then received and correctly spelled the word “chrestomathy,” which means “a selection of passages from various authors complied as an aid to learning a language.”

Cathy will now represent Georgia in the Scripps National Spelling Bee Championships in Washington, D.C., May 25 – May 31, 2008. Should Cathy, for any reason, be unable to represent Georgia at the nationals, Logan would take her place. “I can’t say enough about what these young people have accomplished,” said GAE President Jeff Hubbard. “Everyone associated with their efforts should be very proud and on behalf of GAE I congratulate each and every one of them. And our thoughts and prayers are with Cathy and her family as they travel to Washington to represent Georgia and hopefully bring back the national championship.” In addition to her first place trophy and an all expense paid trip to the national championship and $400 (GAE), Cathy also took home a dictionary (Merriam-Webster), an Amazon.com gift certificate (Scripps National Spelling Bee), a one-year online subscription (Encyclopaedia Britannica), $100 (Mr. and Mrs. Barry Gray from Metro Atlanta), and one $100 U.S. Savings Bond (Samuel L. Sugarman Award). Logan, as runner-up, took home a second place trophy, $100 (GAE), a dictionary (Merriam-Webster), and a one-year online subscription (Encyclopaedia Britannica). All contestants received $25, a certificate of participation, and a GAE State Bee lapel pin. Order of elimination-
County/word/Round:
Chilneshia Welch - Putnam/Concerto/1
Kristin Towe- Floyd/Oregano/1
Mary Kate Vian – Atlanta/Lariat/2
Katherine Burden - Gwinnett/Myriad/2
Taylor Rinberger -Berrien/Impetuous/2
Eryn D. Smith - Appling/Cedilla/3
Kevin Figlewicz – Cobb/Backstein/4
Thomas Carden - Chatham/Lederhosen/4
Jessica King –Thomaston-Upson/Virgule/4
Jaire Duncan – Rockdale/Repertoire/5
Sarah Cover – Cobb/Azimuth/5
Orin Lincoln –Muscogee/Prosciutto/5
Erin Barnett - Cobb/Commissar/5
Korie Shetter – Floyd/Wedel/5
Jonathan Lee Casas – Hall/Mynheer/6
Eron Frances Smith –Decatur City/Pompadour/6
Micah Stewart – Valdosta City/Jocosity/6
Todd Jones – Fulton/Integument/6
Logan Austin - Fayette/Tergiversate/7
Cathy Deng – ClarkeChampion/Chrestomathy