74th Scripps National Spelling Bee
| 74th Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
|---|---|
| Date | May 29–31, 2001 |
| Location | Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C. |
| Winner | Sean Conley |
| Age | 13 |
| Residence | Anoka, Minnesota |
| Sponsor | Aitkin Independent Age |
| Sponsor location | Aitkin, Minnesota |
| Winning word | succedaneum |
| No. of contestants | 248 |
| Pronouncer | Alex Cameron |
| Preceded by | 73rd Scripps National Spelling Bee |
| Followed by | 75th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 74th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C. on May 29–31, 2001, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.
Winners
Thirteen-year-old Sean Conley, from Anoka, Minnesota won the competition in the 16th round by correctly spelling the word "succedaneum".[1][2][3] Conley was appearing in his third bee. He fell in the sixth round in 1999, and placed second in 2000.[4] Second place went to Kristin Hawkins of Virginia, who missed "resipiscence."[2]
Competition
248 contestants participated in the competition; 138 girls and 110 boys; 170 from public schools, 28 from private schools, 25 from parochial schools, and 25 home-schoolers. Fifty-two spellers had previously participated in a national bee, a new record.[5]
The bee used a three-day format for the first time this year, though bee staff already planned to return to two days the following year by adding a written-test for the first time. The contest began at 4pm on Tuesday May 29, with one-half of the spellers competing in round one starting at 4pm, and the other half at 7pm.[6] 178 spellers survived the first day.[7] Two additional split-rounds continued on Wednesday.[6] The finals, with survivors from both groups, started at 8am on Thursday and were broadcast on ESPN starting at 10am.[4][8]
The first place prize was $10,000, and second place took $5000.[2]
References
- ↑ Champions and Their Winning Words
- 1 2 3 Toppo, Greg (31 May 2001). Minn. 13-Year-Old Wins National Spelling Bee, ABC News
- ↑ (1 June 2001). 'Succedaneum' gives Minnesota teen a win at National Spelling Bee, Ludington Daily News (Associated Press)
- 1 2 (29 May 2001). National spelling bee begins, Kingman Daily Miner (Associated Press)
- ↑ (29 May 2001). Popular is word for national spelling bee, Reading Eagle (Scripps Howard News Service)
- 1 2 Braciszeki, Kevin (29 May 2001). Ludington speller in national bee this week, Ludington Daily News
- ↑ Reiss, Cory (29 May 2001). How do you spell 'first round'?, Tuscaloosa News
- ↑ (30 May 2001). Maine spelling champ makes second round of national bee, Bangor Daily News