Wendy Guey from West Palm Beach, Florida, was the winner of the 1996 Scripps National Spelling Bee, when she was 12. She won after 13 rounds with the word "vivisepulture". In the 1996 competition, Guey beat out Nikki Dowdy who failed to spell "cervicorn". Also in the field was Rebecca Sealfon, who would go on to win the 1997 competition. As of 2006, Guey is one of only two winners to come from the state of Florida. Guey's sponsor for the competition was The Palm Beach Post. She had previously competed in the 1993 (misspelled "meiosis"), 1994 (misspelled "farouche"), and 1995 (misspelled "mycetophagous") competitions.

After completing school, Guey went on to attend Harvard University, majoring economics and East Asian studies.{ She also became a member of the Scripps National Spelling Bee staff.

On episodes of the ESPN Classic show Cheap Seats, both the Sklar Brothers poke fun at Guey during showings of the 1994 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The brothers call Guey "Gooey" and refer to her as the cutest little speller and a mogwai, in reference to the character Gizmo from the film Gremlins.

See also

• List of Scripps National Spelling Bee champions

References