With the correct spelling of "exquisite," then "molecular," Smithers native Justin Bergen emerged the winner of the sixth annual Prince George Citizen Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday.
In the process, Bergen, a 12-year-old Grade 7 student at Bulkley Valley Christian School, edged out last year's winner, Cynthia Dykhuizen, a 13-year-old Grade 8 student at Quesnel Junior Secondary, who tripped over "madrigal" once the field of 39 was narrowed down to two.
The win earned Bergen a $5,000 cheque from the Egg Farmers of Canada and a trip to Toronto for Postmedia Canspell national final in a few weeks time. He'll go up against 20 other regional champions and if he makes the top three, he'll go to Washington, D.C. for the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
It's quite a change from past experiences with spelling bees.
"In the last two years I couldn't get past the school bee," Bergen said, adding he misheard some words and misspelled them as a result.
He actually did not study as hard for this year's version but the past effort paid off this time around. Bergen admitted to being a little intimidated by Dykhuizen because he knew she won last year and by the word "Wagnerian" which he said was the toughest of the ones he had to confront.
Competitors are given a study guide that focuses on about 1,150 words, divided into sections by language of origin.
"I practiced German and I wasn't doing very well but I knew that one [Wagnerian] because I'd got it wrong [during practice] and then I got it right," Bergen said.
Bergen's mother, Bonnie, was a proud parent.
"He was really calm," she said. "I think I was more nervous than he was."
Bergen has a twin brother, Brad, who's the "dictionary" of the family.
"He [Brad] knows the meanings to all of the words and he [Justin] knows how to spell them," their mother said.
Bergen's other interests include drumming, reading, playing video games and tae kwon do.
Their father, Terry, was unable to make it out to the event because he had to work over the weekend. Seven-year-old Riley rounds out the family.
Jessica Chen, a 14-year-old Grade 8 student at Duchess Park, Mitchell Schmidt, an 11-year-old Grade 6 student at Ecole Heather Park, and Sophia Turgeon, an 11-year-old Grade 6 student in the E-Bus Academy program, were the top local finishers reaching the top seven before they were eliminated in successive rounds.
