Three Minnesota students spelled rejuvenescent, ambiversion and audacious correctly on Wednesday.

But it wasn't enough to get them into the final round of the National Spelling Bee near Washington, D.C.

Students who survived the preliminary rounds are not guaranteed a spot in the finals because results of their written tests are rolled into their overall score. No more than 50 make it to the final round.

Of the five Minnesota students in the competition, three spelled their words correctly Wednesday: Forestview Middle School seventh-grader Hannah Moddes of Baxter correctly spelled rejuvenescent; Le Sueur-Henderson eighth-grader Alayna Vogel of Le Sueur got ambiversion right; and Lake Middle School sixth-grader Annika Kim of Woodbury spelled audacious correctly.

The other two Minnesota students in the competition got their words wrong in Wednesday's preliminary round:

Eighth-grader Gavin Starr of Lester Prairie Schools spelled unanimity as uninimity.

And Pacelli Catholic School eighth-grader Neha Thawani Nanda of Austin misspelled bankruptcy as bankrupcy.

More than 11 million students participated months ago in classroom and school bees before advancing to local bees that were coordinated by news media outlets, community organizations and universities.

The National Spelling Bee started in 1925 with nine contestants. Minnesota has had one national champion, Sean Conley, of Shakopee, in 2001.

STAFF REPORT