Medfield's Molly Cahill Headed to Washington D.C. to Compete in National Spelling Bee

Last year, student Molly Cahill competed in the Comcast South Shore Regional Spelling Bee, advancing through six rounds out of 26 before stepping out in the seventh on the word "knish."

A year later, Cahill won the whole thing, finishing first overall in the 2012 Comcast South Shore Regional Spelling Bee this past Saturday to advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May.

Comcast will send Cahill, an eighth grader at Montrose School, to Washington, D.C. to represent her community, school, family and friends in the National Spelling Bee.

“We congratulate Molly on her victory and we’re excited to watch her compete in the national bee,” said Steve Hackley, Senior Vice President of Comcast’s Greater Boston Region. “We are proud to have sponsored the Comcast South Shore Regional Spelling Bee for the fourth year in a row as part of our ongoing commitment to powering dreams in the local communities where our customers and our employees live and work.”

Cahill, according to a press release issued by Comcast, defeated 25 fellow South Shore students, including first runner up and last year's winner, Surabhi Iyer from Franklin and second runner up Matthew Donahue from Kingston, in Saturday’s spelling showdown. Cahill correctly spelled the word “evanesce” to win the bee.

“Thank you to Comcast for again sponsoring this competition, which is such a great opportunity for students on the South Shore like Molly to put their spelling knowledge to the ultimate test,” said Lisa Morrissey of LIDO Consulting Group, who organizes the regional bee.  

Coverage of the Comcast South Shore Regional Spelling Bee will be available next month in the “Get Local” section of the On Demand menu for Comcast digital cable customers to watch at no additional cost.

Molly's mother, Julie Cahill, said her daughter has always shown interest reading.

“She has always loved to read, which I think helps all kids with their spelling,” she said.