74th Scripps National Spelling Bee

The 74th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held in Washington, D.C., on May 29–31, 2001, sponsored by the E.W. Scripps Company.

74th Scripps National Spelling Bee
DateMay 29–31, 2001
LocationGrand Hyatt Washington in Washington, D.C.
WinnerSean Conley
Age13
ResidenceAnoka, Minnesota
SponsorAitkin Independent Age
Sponsor locationAitkin, Minnesota
Winning wordsuccedaneum
No. of contestants248
PronouncerAlex Cameron
Preceded by73rd Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by75th Scripps National Spelling Bee

Winners

Thirteen-year-old Sean Conley, from Anoka, Minnesota, won the competition in the 16th round by correctly spelling the word "succedaneum".[1][2][3] Conley was appearing in his third bee. He fell in the sixth round in 1999, and placed second in 2000.[4] Second place went to Kristin Hawkins of Virginia, who missed "resipiscence".[2]

Competition

248 contestants participated in the competition; 138 girls and 110 boys; 170 from public schools, 28 from private schools, 25 from parochial schools, and 25 home-schoolers. Fifty-two spellers had previously participated in a national bee, a new record.[5]

The bee used a three-day format for the first time this year, though bee staff already planned to return to two days the following year by adding a written-test for the first time. The contest began at 4pm on Tuesday May 29, with one-half of the spellers competing in round one starting at 4pm, and the other half at 7pm.[6] 178 spellers survived the first day.[7] Two additional split-rounds continued on Wednesday.[6] The finals, with survivors from both groups, started at 8am on Thursday and were broadcast on ESPN starting at 10am.[4][8]

The first place prize was $10,000, and second place took $5000.[2]

References
  1. "Champions and Their Winning Words". Archived from the original on 2012-11-17. Retrieved 2015-02-25.
  2. Toppo, Greg (31 May 2001). Minn. 13-Year-Old Wins National Spelling Bee, ABC News
  3. (1 June 2001). 'Succedaneum' gives Minnesota teen a win at National Spelling Bee, Ludington Daily News (Associated Press)
  4. (29 May 2001). National spelling bee begins, Kingman Daily Miner (Associated Press)
  5. (29 May 2001). Popular is word for national spelling bee, Reading Eagle (Scripps Howard News Service)
  6. Braciszeki, Kevin (29 May 2001). Ludington speller in national bee this week, Ludington Daily News
  7. Reiss, Cory (29 May 2001). How do you spell 'first round'?, Tuscaloosa News
  8. (30 May 2001). Maine spelling champ makes second round of national bee, Bangor Daily News
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