'R-h-i-n-o-c-e-r-o-s' spells victory

University student wins SUA spelling bee

By Tyler Harbert

Wednesday, April 18, 2007

The small crowd and the 20 spelling bee contestants in Alderson Auditorium in the Kansas Union applauded as Annie Harrigan and her rival Steven Griswold embraced.

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Photo by Sarah Leonard

Annie Harrigan, Prairie Village junior, confidently recites the spelling of a word during last night's spelling bee hosted by Spellington Bee. Harrigan won the competition and Steven Griswold, Forsyth, Ill. sophomore, placed second.

Harrigan, Prairie Village junior, had just spelled her final word in the Student Union Activities’ spelling bee on Tuesday night. The definition given for her final word was a large, African beast with a horn on its snout.

“R-h-i-n-o-c-e-r-o-s. Rhinoceros,” she said.

“That is correct,” said Shawn Bowers, Overland Park junior, who wore a yellow-and-black striped shirt as “Spellington,” the spelling bee mascot and moderator.

Griswold, a sophomore from Forsyth, Ill., tried to spell “facetious” moments before but missed. He slinked away from the microphone, making way for Harrigan, who spelled “facetious” and “rhinoceros” correctly to win the bee.

“I’ve heard the word before, but honestly no idea how to spell it,” Griswold said. “I’ve heard it probably twice.”

The spelling bee itself was facetious — not to be taken seriously.

Neither “facetious” nor “rhinoceros” were the hardest words Harrigan said she had to spell Tuesday night.

“Actually it was ‘daguerreotype,’” she said, offering to spell it out. A daguerreotype is an early photograph printed on a copper plate, and Harrigan said she had been exposed to the word as an art major.

“I’ll probably see it for the rest of my life and it will drive me crazy,” she said.

Harrigan said she won spelling bees in both elementary and middle schools, but the furthest she ever advanced in those competitions was the county level.

She said she had a photographic memory and could remember how to spell a word after seeing it only once.

“I like testing my own intelligence against people who are having as much fun as I am,” she said.

Harrigan’s victory won her a $50 gift certificate for downtown businesses, while Griswold’s second-place finish was worth a $25 downtown gift certificate.

Third-place winner Margaret Tran, Derby freshman, spelled “aberration” followed by “facsimile,” and took home a spelling-oriented board game called “Upwards” and a box of Honeycomb breakfast cereal.

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I like testing my own intelligence against people who are having as much fun as I am.

-Annie Harrigan, Prairie Village junior

Amanda Hallier, Overland Park junior and SUA films coordinator, said she and Bowers started planning the spelling bee late last semester. She said they wanted to screen a documentary film and pair it with a fun event.

“Everyone loves spelling bees,” she said. “We all did them as kids.”

The movie “Spellbound,” a documentary film about schoolchildren competing in a spelling bee, was shown after the event.

Kansan staff writer Tyler Harbert can be contacted at tharbert@kansan.com.

— Edited by James Pinick

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