New Jersey girl wins National Spelling Bee

updated 12:41 p.m. ET June 2, 2006

WASHINGTON - A 13-year-old New Jersey girl making her fifth straight appearance at the Scripps National Spelling Bee rattled off "ursprache" to claim the title of America's best speller on prime-time television Thursday night.

Katharine Close, an eighth-grader at the H.W. Mountz School in Spring Lake, N.J., is the first girl since 1999 to win the national spelling title. She stepped back from the microphone and put her hands to her mouth upon being declared the winner.

"I'm just in shock," Katharine said. Asked what she'll remember most, she said: "Probably just hearing 'Ursprache,' which is a parent language." She recognized the word as soon as she heard it.

The winner goes home with more than $42,000 in cash and prizes.

Runner-up was Finola Mei Hwa Hackett, a 14-year-old Canadian, a confident speller during two days of competition who stumbled on "weltschmerz."

Third-place went to Saryn Hooks, a 14-year-old from West Alexander Middle School in Taylorsville, N.C., who was disqualified earlier in the evening, then returned to competition after the judges corrected their mistake. Saryn fumbled on "icteritious," which means of a jaundiced color.

Driven by the popularity of recent movies, books and a Broadway musical on the seemingly improbable theme of spelling hard words, the bee featured prime-time television coverage for the first time in its 79-year history. ABC broadcast the final from 8 p.m. until the winner was crowned just after 10 p.m. EDT.

Spellers took to the stage minutes before the broadcast, huddling and chanting “1-2-3, spell” before taking their seats. Their parents sat on stage, too, across the aisle.

Feel of a sports show
The broadcast had the flavor and style of a sports program, opening with a montage of the competitors and including a short profile of the first speller before he got his word. Each word or grimace by spellers at the microphone triggered a blast of camera shutters, and the live TV camera followed a loser into the arms of a comforting parent.

Even gamblers got into the act, putting money down on questions including whether the final word would have an “e” in it and whether the winner would wear glasses. Simon Noble, CEO of PinnacleSports.com, said his offshore Internet sports betting company had received about $70,000 in wagers on seven propositions about the bee as of noon Thursday.

The pace of competition, held in the basement ballroom of a Washington hotel, was slowed by the need to accommodate commercial breaks in the TV coverage provided by ABC, as well as earlier by ESPN.

“We’re out for another two-minute commercial break,” or “We’re out for about a minute and a half,” bee director Paige Kimble announced frequently, connected by headset to the network directors. The audience chuckled, competition paused and the spellers and others in the room used the opportunity to stretch their legs.

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