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Nancy Yang

'Dulia' is his downfall: Minn. 8th-grader eliminated at national spelling bee

Maxwell Meyer, 14, of Minnetonka in the finals.
Maxwell Meyer, 14, of Minnetonka, Minn., correctly spells his word during the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., on Thursday.
Cliff Owen | AP

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Updated: 12:51 p.m. | Posted: 8:42 a.m.

Minnesota's Maxwell Meyer has been eliminated from the finals at the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He was one of 45 finalists heading into the championships.

He misspelled "dulia," which means "veneration or respect paid to the saints and angels as the servants and friends of God."

A new top speller will be crowned Thursday night.

Meyer, an eighth-grader at Minnetonka Middle School East, won the regional spelling bee sponsored by Minnesota Public Radio in March. He tied for 11th in the 2015 national bee.

He's one of five Minnesotans at the national competition this week. The other four did not advance to the finals.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee, which started in 1925 with just nine contestants, describes itself as the nation's largest and longest-running educational promotion. More than 11 million students took part in bees this school year for a chance to be part of the national competition.

Quiz: Real word or fake?