Three students from the Mahoning Valley competed in this year's Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Struthers eighth-grader Chris Dominick and Lakeview sixth-grader Joey Constantine were sponsored by WFMJ Television after winning the 89th Annual 21 WFMJ Regional Spelling Bee.

Another local speller, 13-year-old Shaylynn Dennis of Beaver Local, was sponsored by Salem News.

Dennis correctly spelled the word sauger, in round two correctly answered the question, "Which of these would be most dulcet?" to which she answered "a popular lullaby." In round three, Shaylynn misspelled the word "imprest."

Joey Constantine made it to round five before misspelling "escharotic." He correctly spelled "maillot" in round one and correctly answered that Bruschetta was a type of appetizer. Constantine spelled "ordination" correctly in round three, followed by "finca" in round four.

He finished tied for 32nd place.

Chris Dominick advanced the farthest of all local contestants before being eliminated in round seven.

Dominick correctly spelled "hoi polloi", "vecturist", "relievo", and "tricinium" between rounds one and six. The Struthers student also correctly answered that utilitarian meant that something has a useful function and that a leitmotif is a dominant recurring theme.

He would end his run tied for 13th place after misspelling the word "sirtaki."

Only 12 spellers moved on to the finals, which take place Thursday from 8 to 10 p.m.