Prescott 13-year-old Aliyah Alpert was eliminated in the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee last night.
The eighth grader breezed through seven rounds, correctly spelling words like “menudo” and providing the definition of “detritus.”
But Alpert was ultimately knocked out by the Hawaiian word for green, "omao." She finished tied for ninth place.
She previously competed in the 2022 National Spelling Bee, where she also tied for ninth.
Alpert was the last standing representative from Arizona. Shynelle Joe of Window Rock made it to the second round and Chandler seventh-grader Isabelle Garcia left in the third.
