With Ursinus College Classics professor John Wickersham doling out words, including those in the above paragraph, 32 kids from area schools tested their spelling mettle Thursday night at Norristown Area High School.

As the ultimate version of spell check - a trio of esteemed judges from Gwynedd-Mercy and Chestnut Hill colleges - stood by to smoke out their gaffes and blunders, the intensely focused spellers were clearly in their element.

But about an hour and a half into the contest, all bets were on Miranda Somich of Pottstown Middle School and Vivian Lee, an Arcola Intermediate School eighth-grader.

Both girls misspelled the word "receptacle," meaning "a container or holder." The final twist and turn then hinged on the word "crocodile," which stumped Somich.

Following the second-place Somich were Danielle Connor of Indian Crest Junior High School in Souderton and Danielle Armstrong of Spring-Ford Middle School, third and fourth place winners, respectively.

Armed with a shiny Times Herald trophy, a $100 savings bond, $100 cash and a lumbering Merriam-Webster dictionary - which briefly challenged the strength of both the winner and her petite mom, Anna, following the awards portion of the evening - Lee will take on the national championship in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

Now crowned queen speller bee, she said that she had overcome that anxiety and maybe even battled a slight case of "overconfidence" near the end.

"Oh, at one time she used to have such stage fright that she froze and couldn't spell a word," allowed Lee's mom, who explained that her daughter was not named in tribute to the star of the classic film "Gone with the Wind."

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