Jackson misses out on semifinals at spelling bee

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD. – Woodmore Middle School seventh-grade student Phoebe Jackson competed in Tuesday and Wednesday's preliminaries at the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, but she was not one of the 49 contestants advancing to Thursday's semifinals round.

The results and names of the 49 spellers advancing to the semifinals were posted on the spelling bee's website Wednesday night.

According to the national spelling bee's site, Jackson spelled "abdicate" and "neurergic" correctly during the two preliminary rounds of onstage spelling at the event. There were also preliminary written spelling and vocabulary tests at the national contest.

Jackson, 13, won the 2015 Blade Northwest Ohio Championship Spelling Bee to earn a return trip to Washington, D.C., this week for the national competition.

She is one of 40 two-year repeaters at the spelling bee, with contestants ranging in age from 9 to 15.

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