By Richard Bammer
Luke Reed tripped on the 11th word, “carcinogen,” which Avery Chizauskie aced, and then word pronouncer David McCallum said in a booming voice, “Let’s hear it for our top two spellers!”
Some 60 people in the audience applauded and Chizauskie, 12 and a sixth-grader at Browns Valley Elementary in Vacaville appearing to be in momentary shock, then flashed a smile as she was declared the first-place winner of the 46th Annual Solano County Spelling Bee Tuesday night in Vacaville.
“I couldn’t believe it,” she said during a brief interview afterward, holding her hefty 2-foot-high trophy inside the Journey Downtown auditorium on Main Street, where the bee was held, as her parents, Tim and Samantha Chizauskie, looked on.