Chesterfield eight-grader wins regional spelling bee

VIDEO: 2009 Central Virginia Regional Spelling Bee

After nine rounds of scrunch-faced spellings and a few gleefully lucky guesses, Michael Whalon terminated his competition with "eviscerate" yesterday in the 35th annual Richmond Times-Dispatch Regional Spelling Bee.

Michael, an eighth-grade student at Bailey Bridge Middle School in Chesterfield County, is headed to Washington to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee to represent the Richmond region.

"I think I was extremely lucky on about half of those," Michael said after stepping off stage with an oversized dictionary and a trophy.

Chelsea Deane, a Cumberland Middle School seventh-grader, was named the runner-up after misspelling "voilà" in the ninth round. By round six, Chelsea and Michael were the only two left.

The 33 students who competed yesterday represented their local school systems, the private-school division and the home-school division. The roughly 1½-hour-long contest at the Library of Virginia was punctuated by contestant bathroom breaks and tearful departures.

Michael credits luck with getting past some of the trickier words that few 14-year-olds have great occasion to drop in conversation, like "occlusal," but he admits he's fond of reading "old stuff" such as "Beowulf" and "Romeo and Juliet." He's also an athlete and enjoys acting.

Tyler Johnson, a Charles City County middle school student, said he made it to the regional bee on his first attempt, and it may have something to do with one very special fan. His mother died of cancer a few months ago, and during the competition Tyler wore a small picture of her on a silver chain around his neck.

Whenever the identifying placard on his chest covered her picture, Johnson would gently place the medallion back on top where he could see it.

"She wanted me to win the spelling bee really bad," Tyler said after the contest, adding that he came up with the remembrance idea. "I thought that it would give me extra spirit."

Tyler bid the contest "adieu" when he misspelled the word in the fifth round. He said he plans to come back next year -- and win the national bee.

Michael is headed to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, which will be May 26-28. It is the largest of all national scholastic spelling competitions, drawing young spellers from across the country.

The Times-Dispatch will pay for Michael and his family to spend the week of May 24-30 in Washington and will provide him with a $1,500 scholarship. Event sponsors were The Times-Dispatch, Thinkfinity.org and the Library of Virginia.

Contact Olympia Meola at (804) 649-6812 or .