Two New Jersey students reached the final day of the annual spelling bee.
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. -- New Jersey won't have anyone in the winner's circle this year at the 89th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Both New Jersey students missed their words in the initial round of Thursday's final day of competition.
Rimas Chacar-Palubinskas of Ho-Ho-Kus, 13, an eighth grader at Ho-Ho-Kus Public School misspelled strephosymbolia, a condition in which a reader transposes phrases, words or letters. He replaced the second "s" with a "c."
Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill, 10, a fifth grader at Bret Harte Elementary School, misspelled "tyee," a large Chinook salmon.
They were the two that remained from the seven New Jersey students who initially entered the bee. Thursday's competition appeared on ESPN2. The finals Thursday night will be air on ESPN.
Which N.J. students made the finals?
Rimas, who plays in the front court of two basketball teams, won his school bee in January and then the regional competition held by the Bergen County Division of Cultural and Historic Affairs, which sponsored his participation in the national event.
"I love the thrill of competition," he said. "The spelling bee seemed like something I could do well in."
As he got ready for the national bee, he said his school encouraged him and then watched him live on stage. His friends took over some of the preparation during lunch and recess.
"His friends at the Ho-Ho-Kus School would quiz him and it built a great atmosphere at school," said his father, Rany Chacar.
While Rimas has aged out of the competition, Shruthika is just getting started.
"I'm sure it will motivate her for the coming years," said her father, Uma Shankar Padhy.
Shruthika, who plays the flute and whose other interests include Indian classical music and soccer, said she would like to return to the national bee.
"It was very exciting," she said. "I know I tried my best. That's enough for me."
Last year, Katharine S. Wang of Morristown made it to the final day last year in her fourth and final trip to the spelling bee. She was ousted when she misspelled cinqueciento, a term referring to the 16th century Italian Renaissance.
The last Garden State student to win the bee was Katharine Close of Spring Lake in the 2006 competition. The winning word was ursprache, a language reconstructed from languages that came later.
Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook
