By Bill Straub
Scripps Howard News ServiceBoth Cincinnati area spellers performed well during the public portion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday but only one, Tino Cusi Delamerced, is headed for Thursday's semi-finals.
Tino, 13, a seventh grader at The Summit Country Day School in Cincinnati, and Madeline Stevens, 14, an eighth grader at Batesville (Ind.) Middle School, both sponsored by WCPO-TV, Channel 9 in Cincinnati, spelled two words correctly during the Wednesday competition but only Tino advanced based on a written test given to the participants on Tuesday.
Only 41 of the 293 entrants in the 2009 Scripps National Spelling Bee advanced into the semi-final round.
"Not this year,'' said Carolyn Dube, the mother of Madeline Stevens. Asked if she was disappointed by the results, Madeline smiled and shook her head. "No, not really,'' she said.
By making it into the semi-final round, Tino still has a chance to better the record of his sister, Anna, who finished 25th in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The competition restarts at 10 a.m. Thursday. WCPO-TV, channel 9 in Cincinnati, which sponsored both area contestants, is owned by the E.W. Scripps Co.
