WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Scripps National Spelling Bee is underway in suburban Washington D.C.

Adith Joshua George from Holy Angels school in Sidney, made it to the third round Wednesday but didn’t make it to the finals, which began Thursday.

George correctly spelled storis in the second round and yokel in the third round.

George won the regional spelling bee sponsored by The Lima News in March at the Knights of Columbus Hall.

On Wednesday, the spelling bee started with 452 spellers and after hours of on-stage spelling, the list was whittled down to 321.

Organizers of the bee whittled it down to 41 finalists based on scores from the written tests spellers took Tuesday.

The maximum score on the written test was 36 points. To advance, spellers needed at least 28 points.

Another area speller, Una VanWynsberghe, an eighth-grader from Lincolnview in Van Wert County was eliminated in the second round Tuesday when she could not correctly spell aposiopesis.

The first part of the finals will be broadcast live Thursday on ESPN2 from 10 until 10 p.m. while the second part will be broadcast live on ESPN from 8:30 to 10:30 p.m.