Solehi Speller Narrowly Misses Semifinal Cut

Naomi Li mastered "eremic" and "galjoen," but it wasn't enough to take the eighth-grader to the semifinal round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Li, the of the held in Washington D.C., made it through the first two oral rounds but failed to score high enough to advance to the semifinals, held this morning.

Li never felt that winning the competition was her end goal. "The winner of last year's [Scripps National Spelling Bee title] gave a speech I really agreed with. You're not competing against each other; you're going against the dictionary. You're competing against the English language."

By the way, "eremic" means relating to deserts or sandy regions. "Galjoen" is a species of marine fish found only along the coast of South Africa.