St. Joseph News-Press file photo

Morgan Brown works on spelling a word in the Northwest Missouri regional spelling bee earlier this year.

Morgan Brown heads to Washington, D.C., next week for a second crack at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

She need not feel the burden of blazing an uncharted path from Northwest Missouri, even as a repeat contestant. And history indicates she’ll do well in life, regardless of how she performs in the bee.

The News-Press tracked down most of Northwest Missouri’s Scripps representatives since 1992. They include high school valedictorians, college summa cum laudes, lawyers and a soon-to-be doctor. All before their early 30s.

John Keay plays it cool, at first.

“I haven’t thought about it in a long time,” he said.

But he quickly remembers the word he missed 15 years ago — zoanthropy. He spells it now, correctly, without hesitation. An easy word, he says, and he remembers making it more complicated than it needed to be.

Mr. Keay, then of Chillicothe, won the regional bee again in 1995 and made a second trip to Washington. He advanced to the third round, finishing ranked 30-something in the country, he said. He was one word shy of appearing on ESPN.

“It’s still a big accomplishment to me,” said Mr. Keay, a lawyer. “It was just a lot of fun. I remember getting to see a lot of smart kids and a lot of different kinds of kids.”

The competition mixes parts spelling, memorization and nerve control. Those kids who go to Washington are generally extremely smart kids whose knees rattle just a bit less than the kids back home.

“Some people think that they’re just spelling nerds, but they’re very well rounded students whose brightness just comes out in spelling,” said Kevin Koenig, the Northwest Missouri regional spelling bee director, who travels with the kids and their families each year to Washington.

Adam Brown, from St. Joseph, figured spelling would be his only chance in life to appear on ESPN. He traded playing outside and watching TV for tutoring at home and school.

“I spent a lot of hours standing in the kitchen, having mom and dad quiz me,” Mr. Brown remembers.

He qualified for the televised rounds in 1998 before tripping up on “ankylosaur” — a dinosaur with natural body armor.

“I could’ve described it. I could’ve drawn a picture of it,” Mr. Brown said. “But I could not spell it.”

The following are Northwest Missouri’s representatives to the Scripps National Spelling Bee since 1992 and, when available, information on their lives after high school:

- 2009 — Morgan Brown, Dearborn (North Platte)

- 2008 — Morgan Brown, Dearborn (North Platte)

- 2007 — Alex Stearns, Weston (West Platte)

- 2006 — Katie Burke, Rock Port

- 2005 — Sarah Pauley, Trenton; graduated high school last week as valedictorian; will attend Truman State University this fall, with possible majors of journalism or political science.

- 2004 — Miranda Van Pelt, Guilford (North Andrew); graduated as salutatorian from South Nodaway; currently a sophomore honors student at Northwest Missouri State University, with a double major in accounting and agriculture business.

- 2003 — Destiny Silvers, Trenton; graduated high school in top 10 of class; attended a semester at Northwest Missouri State University and plans to pursue a degree in broadcasting; currently works at KTTN radio station in Trenton.

- 2002 — Michael Willis, King City; senior broadcast major at Northwest Missouri State University, with minor in interactive digital media; can be heard on-air during NPR’s “Morning Edition” on KXCV and KRNW in Maryville.

- 2001 — Debra (Snider) Kollitz, Princeton; high school valedictorian in 2006; completed college in three years and this month graduated summa cum laude from the University of Central Missouri; works for the USDA-NRCS in Warrensburg; hopes to attain a master’s degree in an agricultural field, and possibly a Ph.D.

- 2000 — Lorelei Donaldson, St. Joseph (Central); graduated last week from the University of Missouri with an English degree; considering pursuing a master’s degree in library sciences.

- 1999 — Aaron Jennings, Stanberry; graduated with honors from University of Missouri in 2007 in economics with a math minor; entering third year of law school at the University of Iowa; executive editor of Journal of Corporation Law; currently an intern with the international Orrick law firm in Washington, D.C.

- 1998 — Adam Brown, St. Joseph (Benton); finished No. 17 in national bee; graduated summa cum laude from Missouri Western State University with a degree in government and history; master’s degree in political science from University of Kansas; currently a Ph.D. candidate at KU in political science.

- 1997 — Jennifer Mezger, Ridgeway.

- 1996 — Whitney Gates, Edgerton.

- 1994 and 1995 — John Keay, Chillicothe; undergraduate degree in psychology from the University of Missouri in 2002; law degree from MU in 2005; practicing family law at Keay & Keay in Bellingham, Wash.

- 1993 — William Bell, Winston.

- 1992 — Moxi Upadhyaya, St. Joseph (Central); attorney in Washington, D.C.

Joe Blumberg can be reached

at joeblumberg@npgco.com.