(Washington, D.C. (KROC-AM News) - The Byron 8th grader who traveled to Washington D.C. this week to compete in the Scripp’s National Spelling Bee was eliminated from the prestigious competition during the semi-final round this morning.

13-year-old Christine Farnberg, who attends Holy Spirit Catholic School in Rochester, was among the 49 contestants who made it into the semi-finals, but failed to advance when she incorrectly spelled the word “syrette,” which is a medical device used to inject a person with a single dose of a medication or other liquid.

It was Christine’s second appearance in the National Spelling Bee. She also represented southeastern Minnesota in 2013.

Another Minnesotan, Maxwell Meyer of Shorewood, also made it to the semi-finals. Even though he correctly spelled all of his words, he was not selected as a finalist due to a new rating system that uses preliminary test scores to narrow the field of contestants down to just 10 for the finals.

A total of 5 Minnesotans qualified for the national contest.

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