A dozen spellers, including one from Illinois, were sent on to the finals in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
After the semifinals on Thursday morning, May 29, 2014, the competitors had their computerized and on-stage scores combined. Five were eliminated and 31 were still in the competition.
Of those 31, a dozen moved on to the finals. Speller No. 58, Alia Abiad, is from Western Springs, Illinois. In the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Alia tied for 19th place.
The final round was scheduled for Thursday evening, at 8 p.m. Eastern time on ESPN.
