Kimberly Belser Named Valley View’s 2012 Spelling Bee Champ

Ask Kimberly Belser one of the hardest words she’s ever been asked to spell and she’ll tell you it’s reminiscent.

But spelling that and the word cornea correctly is what led her to edge out fellow seventh-grader Elizabeth Zahorick during the Valley Spelling Bee championship Thursday evening.

The pair battled it out for 29 rounds. Both girls qualify for the March 8 Will County Spelling Bee at Lewis University.

sixth-grader Sharon Palli, who finished third, as well as fifth place finisher Jake Cowart from and sixth place finisher Edward Owusu from , also qualified for the Will County Bee. Humphrey's Christy Parzyszek finished fourth in the district bee.

Kimberly credits her oldest sister for getting her into spelling bees.

“Latrisse joined, then my other sister joined and then when I got into middle school I joined,” she said. “Latrisse made the whole thing happen.”

Kimberly also lauds her mother for her spelling success.

“She’ll quiz me and if I get one wrong she’ll spell it and sometimes we’ll look the word up,” she said.

During the spelling bee, Belser also properly spelled ventilate, dreary, aria, syringe, hacienda, zenith, mariachi, argentine, fandango, pyre, arsenal, entourage, carnivore, herpetology, transect, fathom, wigwam, stollen, bluff, iguana, lithe, nightingale, cilantro, jeremiad, mongoose, glasnost and homonym before the final two rounds. Zahorick went out on "extraordinarily" because she thought the word was "extraordinary," which she spelled correctly.

Kimberly is excited about her win.

“I didn’t expect it,” she said. “I was just like, ‘If I could at least not lose in the first round.’ I’m extremely grateful.”