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Tim Post
St. Paul, Minn.

Edina 7th-grader knocked out of Scripps Spelling Bee

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A 13-year-old Edina student who made it to the semi-finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee has been knocked out of the competition.

Mark Kivimaki, a 7th grader at Valley View Middle School, was among 46 students who made it into the sixth round of the spelling bee on Thursday.

He was tripped up by the word "ananke," which means "the personification of fate."

"I know if I had gotten a different word, I would have been able to make it farther, so it's just a little bit disappointing," he said. "But I know I made it this far and it's my first year."

Kivimaki said he spent an hour a day studying leading up to the competition. He plans to take some time off and then start studying for next year's contest over the summer.

Four other Minnesota students made it to the national spelling bee but were eliminated in earlier rounds.