WILMINGTON, Del. - A seventh grader at the Stanford School in Hockessin is the winner of Delaware's spelling bee and will now compete in the national contest.
Lillian Allingham clinched the title Saturday during the competition at St. Mark's High School in Wilmington. The competition lasted more than four hours and 31 rounds. Officials had to resort to a second list of words provided by Scripps, the sponsors of the national bee.
Allingham won after sixth-grader Daria Willis of MOT Charter School in Middletown stumbled on the word "collusion." Allingham correctly spelled the word. She then correctly spelled "plummet" to win.
More than 60 schools sent representatives to the event. The annual Scripps National Spelling Bee will be held May 28 to May 30 near Washington.
