Medina girl and Mentor boy advance in 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee

WASHINGTON D.C. - Two local spellers will move on to the semifinals of the 2012 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The pack of 278 competitors was slashed to 50, following a computerized test and two rounds of onstage spelling.

For 13-year-old Sunny Levine, of Medina, this is her second trip to the semifinals. The eighth grader at Claggett Middle School competed in the bee in 2010 and 2011, where she tied for 36th place. She breezed through “dermotactile” and “mistassin.”

The second speller from northeast Ohio to advance is 12-year-old Vishnu Nistala, of Mentor. This Mentor Shore Middle School student correctly spelled “stratification” and “blitzkrieg.”

Nathan Dugan, 12, of Canton, also spelled both of his words correctly, but scores combine the computer test with the two preliminary rounds.

Veto Lopez, 13, of Elyria, and Isabella Nilsson, 13, of Shaker Heights, were also eliminated.

The semifinals air on ESPN2 at 10 a.m. Thursday, with the finals starting at 8 p.m. on ESPN.