15 vie tonight in county spelling bee

Tonight, some of the area’s best middle-school spellers will compete for a chance to represent Prince William County in the 78th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C .

This is the 30th year for the Prince William Bee, which is sponsored by the Potomac News, the Manassas Journal Messenger and the Bel Air Woman’s Club.

The local bee begins at 7:30 p.m. at Godwin Middle School, 14800 Darbydale Ave., Woodbridge.

Sixth- through eighth-grade students who have won their respective bees at 15 public and private schools, including the Department of Defense School at Quantico Marine Corps base, will participate.

The local champion will receive an all expense-paid trip to the national bee provided by the Potomac News and the Manassas Journal Messenger.

Prizes include Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged from Merriam-Webster; a $100 savings bond donated by iStar Financial Chief Executive Officer Jay Sugarman in honor of his father, Samuel Louis Sugarman.

The winner will also receive a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate, a $100 gift card to Barnes and Noble and a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online donated by Encyclopedia

Britannica.

Tonight’s runner-up will receive Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition from Merriam-Webster, a $20 Amazon.com gift certificate, a $50 gift card from Barnes and Noble from the Bel Air Woman’s Club and a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica Online donated by Encyclopedia Britannica.

One other finalist also will receive an online subscription to the encyclopedia.

Every speller will receive a trophy donated by the Potomac News and Manassas Journal Messenger.

The contestants’ names and the biographies they submitted follow:

• Abhinav Venkat, who represented Prince William County at the national bee last year, is representing Bull Run Middle School again this year. He placed 16th at the national level bee. The eighth-grader likes football and basket-ball, playing keyboard and guitar, singing in chorus competitions at the county, district and state level and computer games.

The alternate is Devynn Fisher.

• Eric McDonald will represent Benton Middle School. He is in seventh grade and is the best speller in his family. He enjoys math, participating in Math Counts and the Game of 24. Eric plays baseball for Coles Little League, swims competitively for Occoquan Swimming and is a member of the DC Water Polo team. He lives in the Manas-sas area and has one brother and one sister.

The alternate is Max Mohr.

• Clara Spence is representing Christ Chapel Academy in Woodbridge, where she is a straight “A” student and a member of the basketball team. This is her third spelling bee. She plays piano and flute, obtained a Black Belt in Tae Kwon Do when she was 6 years old, is a dancer and plays tennis, skates and swims. Her greatest passion is reading. She likes to write, play video games, travel and spending time with her family and friends.

The alternate is Alexa Marcus.

• Ananth Sridar is representing Mills E. Godwin Middle School. He was born in Chennai, India, and is in seventh grade. Ananth’s favorite subjects are math and science. He is active in many extra-curricular activities and is a member of the National Junior Honor Society and the ecology, computer and robotics clubs. He is a Signet student and makes straight “A’s.“

The alternate is Karen Villarroel.

• Marie Mach is a sixth-grader representing Graham Park Middle School in Triangle. She was born at Misawa Air Base, Japan, and has lived in the Triangle area since 1999. She is an avid reader and plays the piano and flute. She hopes to become a full-time artist.

The alternate is Lakeisha Hawkins.

• Brendan Lavell is representing Glenkirk Elementary School. His dad is a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, so he has lived in Seoul, South Korea, as well as Hawaii and Virginia. Brendan plays spring and fall baseball for the Gainesville District Little League, His favorite subject is social studies and he hopes to get a scholarship to Harvard University, after which he wants to join the U.S. military.

The alternate is Sofiya Asedrem.

• Jerson Del Rosario was born in the Philippines and is representing Gainesville Middle School. He has a younger brother and sister. He was on the honor roll from first through sixth grades. He likes badminton and volleyball and wants to play basketball, football and baseball. He is a member of a dance team and received the Dancer of the Year Award last year. Jerson likes school, his teachers and classmates.

The alternate is Hyojin Claire So.

• Patrick Lee represents Mary G. Porter Traditional School and is in the seventh grade. He is a voracious reader, loves words and writes poetry. His hobby is creating with Legos and he hopes to become a mechanical engineer. He plays on the Woodbridge Little League and Texas Ranger teams and is an alter server at Our Lady of Angels Catho-lic Church.

The alternate is Kameron Tyson.

• Cameron Smith represents Marsteller Middle School. He is in sixth grade and is the son of Pamela and Gary Smith and brother of Garrett, Steve and Tiffany. His interests are photography and filmmaking. He would like to direct movies someday.

The school alternate is Taylor Ruckle.

• Kitty Nguyen was born in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, in 1993 and moved to the U.S. three years later. She has lived in California and Illinois. The eighth-grader enjoys the enthusiasm and school spirit at Manassas Park Middle School. In her free time, she enjoys literature, visual arts and anything cultural. She aspires to become a sur-geon.

The alternate is Stephenie Moran.

• Sara Brown is 11 and represents Potomac Middle School. Sara wrote: “I am in the sixth grade on the Lions team. My hobbies are reading, swimming and hanging out with my family. I hope I win the county spelling bee!“

• Courtney Taitt is in eighth grade at Quantico Middle School. She plays clarinet in the school band and is the cap-tain of her demo team at Novak’s Gymnastics. She loves to read and has two cats.

The alternate is Tayler Turner.

• Conner Hofer in an eighth-grader and represents Rippon Middle School. He was born in Washington state and moved to Virginia in 2005. He participated in Rippon’s school-wide bee, but this is the first year he made the county competition. He loves chess and his cocker spaniel named George.

The alternate is Ricky Furtado.

• Essa Ayubi is 11 and was born in Woodbridge. She is in fifth grade at Rockledge Elementary. She has an older brother and a younger sister.

The alternate is Jordan Wilson.

• L. Anne Oyhenart is the daughter of Diego and Judy Oyhenart. She is presenting Stonewall Middle School. She has an older sister named Jessica and two cats, Merlin and Earl. She participates in the literary magazine, step team and SIGNET. “I am extremely honored to represent my middle school in the all-county spelling bee,“ she wrote.

The alternate is Ryan Wesdock.

Ellen Mitchell can be reached at 703-878-8056.