By Josh Nislick
Gabryela Sinclair won her second consecutive Evelyn Victory Kaswell Spelling Bee on Friday, Jan. 11, edging out nine other finalists and establishing herself as the school’s top speller.
The auditorium swelled with cheering and applause when Sinclair, a sophomore, calmly stepped up to the microphone and finished the competition without a single mistake. Her winning word was “idiosyncrasy.”
“I was confident,” Sinclair said. When she heard her final word, she thought simply: “Thank god, a word I can spell.”
Although Sinclair ultimately came away victorious, the other finalists displayed laudable spelling prowess as well. South English teacher Bob Jampol, who conducted the Bee, joked at one point that if he finished his entire list of words, all of the remaining contestants would be champions.
This year’s event had a degree of drama as well with two perennial spellers returning for a final chance at glory. Seniors Rose Taylor and Hayley Goldstein, finalists for four and three years respectively, both coveted victory in their final year at South, but neither were able to crack the top three.
“I had gone fourth place, third place, second place, so I wanted to make that line,” said Taylor, who misspelled “dilettantish.” “But sometimes those double consonants, they’re tough, they trip me up, so I messed up, but that’s OK.”
Taylor and Goldstein both received ovations from the crowd after misspelling their words, an honorary tribute to two of South’s most decorated spellers. For them, competing again this year was enough of a reward.
“This year was a very worthy pool of contestants,” Goldstein said. “Everybody did a tremendous job. I’m really happy for Gabryela; I’m happy for everybody.”
“Everyone’s a really good speller,” Taylor said. “So one of the best spellers won no matter what, and she will go on to have a long and illustrious career in spelling after I graduate.”
In this year’s competition, the anticipation built up as the rounds progressed. By the fifth rotation only three spellers had been eliminated, and the crowd began to stir with excitement. After the sixth round concluded, all of the seniors had faltered, leaving junior Andrew Hardigg and sophomores Sinclair and Sam Fidler to compete for the title of Newton South’s best speller.
Hardigg slipped first, misspelling “plenipotentiary” as many students in the audience procured their smartphones to validate the word’s existence. When Fidler missed “philately,” Sinclair stood in the spotlight and correctly spelled it, then “idiosyncrasy,” and she let loose a smile as the auditorium erupted.
Sinclair did not miss a word in either the initial round or the semi-finals, the only student to accomplish that feat this year. She’ll shoot for the three-peat next year.
UPDATE 1/12/13 8:55 am: An earlier version of this story misspelled the word “plenipotentiary.”
