Daphne Reno took home the trophy at the 2024 Fredericksburg Regional Spelling Bee on Saturday. A student at Battlefield Middle School, Reno’s winning word was “amphistylar,” a word very few adults sitting in the audience in James Monroe High School auditorium likely knew.
Reno was one of 15 finalists in the spelling bee, which was co-hosted by the Central Rappahannock Regional Library and The Free Lance-Star.
The second-place winner was Patrick Wilt of T. Benton Gayle Middle School, who misspelled “prion” in the 12th round.
All 15 contestants made it through four rounds before the words started to get a bit trickier: emissary, millivolt, turducken, flexitarian, toties quoties.
Fourth-grader Louise Beckman from Grymes Memorial School had never heard of the word that knocked her out during round five. “Osmosis,” recalled Beckman, who has competed in two previous spelling bees. “I like reading words. My first bee I was not proud of myself. The second one I was proud of myself. And this one, I’m like in between.”
Reno joins other winners for the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May in Washington, D.C. In addition to the trophy, Reno wins accommodations at the Gaylord National Resort and money to cover related expenses.
Watch the entire spelling bee in under one minute here.
