By Alabama Public Radio
Washington, DC – The eighth-grader who represented Alabama in the 79th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D-C has been eliminated. State spelling champion Ben Szatanek missed the word "endophytous" -- it means living within the tissues of a plant. Ben attends Catholic Middle School in Montgomery. He still gets 175 dollars for making it into the fourth round. The competition continues Thursday and the final rounds are scheduled to air tonight on A-B-C television.