Kela Harrington, a seventh-grader at Islander Middle School, competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee last week.

Harrington advanced to the third round of the competition, but was not named one of the 50 semifinalists. The field was narrowed in three rounds from 273 students to 50.

In the first round of spelling on the stage, she correctly spelled culturati. In round three she spelled Croesus, who was the last king of Lydia during the times of the ancient Greeks. All participants take a test of 25 words as the first round.

Each participant earns three points for a work spelled correctly in rounds two and three, and earns a one per word spelled right on the test. The number of points that a speller has determines who becomes a semifinalist.

Harrington won the King and Snohomish Regional Spelling Bee in March after three hours of outspelling 54 competitors. That was her very first spelling bee competition, she said.

For a full list of results and words, visit www.spellingbee.com.