Nevada Spelling Bee winner displays poise of a champion in competition

Tussah Heera can clearly spell out how she deals with pre-competition butterflies.

The 13-year-old Las Vegan closes out the frenzy she's participating in -- the 82nd Scripps National Spelling Bee held this week in Washington, D.C. -- and channels the poise of someone twice her age.

"I just close my eyes for a few moments and think about my goals," Tussah said. "It's going pretty good so far."

In March, Tussah out-spelled 36 other Nevada middle school students in the Nevada State Spelling Bee. The word that brought her from nervous contestant to jubilant winner was "monogamous."

Flash forward to this week -- "Bee Week" -- when Tussah joined 292 other Queen Bee spellers from around the country in the nation's capital.

The home-schooled eighth-grader correctly spelled cecity, which means blindness, and crocus, which is a type of flower, to advance to the fourth round of competition, which will be televised nationally on ESPN today.

Each contestant was given two words to spell Wednesday under the bright lights before a supportive audience. The first words were relatively easy compared with the mind-blowing stumpers to come.

The results were combined with scores from a written test Tuesday to determine the semifinalists.

The top dozen or so spellers will move on to the finals on ESPN prime time.

One of them will walk away with the title and $40,000 in cash and prizes.

When not poring over her practice books, she has been updating her Twitter page and blog.

And for fun, she said some members of the group have been exchanging autographs and seeing Washington landmarks together.

"I'm pretty confident," she said. "I am just wondering what will come next."

Tussah is sponsored by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Contact reporter Maggie Lillis at mlillis@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.