Avon Girl, 13, Still In National Spelling Bee

Avon Middle Schooler Kaitlin Hall, 13 is still alive in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She is one of 281 spellers who advanced to the May 29 preliminary afternoon round, according to our media partner, Newsnet5.com. By noon on Wednesday, 266 of the 281 had advanced to the afternoon round. This year 281 spellers will compete from the 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Dependents Schools in Europe; as well as the Bahamas, Canada, China, Ghana, Jamaica, Japan and South Korea. The competition is in Washington, D.C.  Today's winners will advance to the 2 p.m. semi-finals on Thursday, May 30. The finals will begin at 8 p.m. on May 30. 

The Bee is being broadcast live on ESPN3. The first 20 spellers made no mistakes, and only 15 had been removed after the first round of 281 spellers, according to a story on NewsNet5. “This year, those who miss a word in the preliminaries don't get another chance and are shepherded off stage to waiting parents,” the site said. Hall is sponsored by the Educational Service Center of Lorain County. See NewsNet5 for tracking of spelling bee contestants as the contest progresses.