Of the nine contestants representing New Jersey, seven advanced to the next round.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- Seven of the nine contestants representing New Jersey in the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee made it out of the morning preliminaries Wednesday and prepared for a second round of spelling in the afternoon.
The list included Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill, a sixth grader at Rosa International Middle School, making her second straight appearance at the bee. She correctly spelled fastuous, which is ostentatious or showy.
Another returnee, Julian Connaughton from Shohola, Pa., didn't make it. The 13-year-old seventh grader at Delaware Valley Middle School who is sponsored by the Tri-State Spelling Bee Committee in Montague, misspelled sirenomelus, a rare deformity in which the legs are fused together.
"Aww," he said after the bell rang, indicating a wrong answer. "OK, thank you."
The afternoon round will be aired live online on ESPN3 and Thursday's final rounds will be broadcast on ESPN2 during the day and then on ESPN in prime time.
After the next round, judges will tally the scores of the students remaining on stage, including written spelling and vocabulary tests, and up to 50 contestants will be invited to return for the final rounds beginning Thursday morning.
Asha Chauhan, 13, of Elmwood Park, an eighth grader at Elmwood Park Memorial Middle School, was the first New Jersey contestant to stand in front of the microphone. She correctly spelled surmountable, capable of being overcome.
She was followed by Tanay Nandan, 10, of Short Hills, a fourth grader at Hartshorn Elementary School in Short Hills, who correctly spelled loirikeet, an Australian parrot; and Alexandria Ciurlino, 13, of Egg Harbor Township, a seventh grader at St. Vincent de Paul Regional School in Mays Landing, who said she was "splendid" before she correctly spelled tetrapteran, having four wings.
The others who advanced were:
-- Christopher Serrao, 11, of Whitehouse Station, a fifth grader at Holland Brook School in Whitehouse Station, who correctly spelled flageolet, a small flute. His sister, Danielle, competed last year.
-- Anmol Bhatia, 12, of Green Brook, a sixth grader at Green Brook Middle School, spelled fluoroscope, an instrument used to view X-rays.
-- Naomi Castellanos, 11, of North Bergen, a sixth grader at Franklin Elementary School in North Bergen and the winner of the 58th annual Jersey Journal-Hudson County Spelling Bee. She correctly spelled Websterian, relating to former U.S. Sen. Daniel Webster.
Ishaan Akula, 10, of Morganville, didn't make it out of the first round. The fifth grader at Frank Defino Central Elementary School in North Marlboro misspelled kakapo, a New Zealand parrot.
The winner receives an engraved trophy, a $40,000 cash prize, a $2,500 U.S. savings bond, and an Encyclopaedia Britannica reference library. In addition, there are trips to New York City to interviewed on "Live with Kelly and Ryan" and to Hollywood to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live."
Katharine Close of Spring Lake, a 13-year-old, is the only New Jersey student ever to win the spelling bee. She came in first in 2006 after correctly spelling ursprache, a language reconstructed from later languages.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant or on Facebook. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook