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Hungar still hungry
A chevee is a kind of gemstone, but 12-year-old McLean resident Lance Hungar found that definition anything but valuable last Friday, when he misspelled “chevee” and was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
He had made it all the way to the semifinals, one of just 45 competitors to get from the thousands who nervously took the stage at school spelling bees all over the country earlier this year. Hungar is eager to go back.
“It was a thrill just to be there,” he said.
Hungar, the son of Thomas and Jaye Hungar, is home schooled, and the intense studying he did to prepare for the national stage was just par for the course to him.
“It's kind of tedious, but it was fun, I liked doing it,” Hungar said.
According to Hungar's mother, her son's talent for spelling is linked to his love of reading.
“He really likes historical fiction,” Jaye Hungar said.
Lance is a particular fan of the historical fiction adventures by G.A. Henty, popular among boys Lance's age in the late 19th century.
Hungar is already making plans to go back to the bee next year, though he admitted that he doesn't think he could have won if he had managed to get past “chevee.”
“Those other kids were so impressive. ... I didn't know the words in the finals,” he said.
Hungar was one of the last contestants in the semifinals to take the stage, and the suspense built for both him and his parents as he waited.
“I was nervous,” Jaye Hungar said. “I think [Lance] was hamming it up a little,” she added, referring to the faces her son made when each word was announced.
Though he appeared nervous while waiting his turn, he was all business on stage, misspelling chevee by only one letter. Instead, Hungar spelled “chevet,” which means “the east side of a church.”
That's two words they won't get him with next year.
email the reporter at mtayloe@timespapers.com
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