Colorado Students Make It To Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals

ARVADA, CO — Two Colorado students advanced to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals on Thursday. Brainiacs Lauren Guo, 13, of Arvada, and Cameron Keith, 13, of Boulder, were the only two Colorado students to advance to the finals.

Lauren, who hails from Wayne Carle Middle School in Arvada, spelled her first word, "trunnion" correctly; however she misspelled the second word she was handed, "lychnoscope" — a word that most adults don't know exists.

Cameron, from Boulder Valley School District, also spelled his first word correctly, "tachyglossid," however incorrectly spelled the doozie-of-a-word, "eschalot."

Both Cameron and Lauren have proved they aren't giving up — this was Cameron's fourth trip to the national spelling bee, and Lauren's second trip. Cameron tied for 25th place last year, and Lauren tied for 17th place.

More than 550 students from around the world competed in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee, and Lauren and Cameron were among the 50 who made it to the finals.