Photo by Craig Hudson/Scripps National Spelling Bee. Marshall eighth grader Charles Mueller-Thompson stands up on stage during the preliminary round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Tuesday in Maryland at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center.

National Harbor, Md. – In an update from Tuesday’s preliminary rounds, Marshall eighth grader Charles Mueller-Thompson has completed his appearance at the 100th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland.

Despite the elimination prior to the quarterfinals, Mueller-Thompson proudly represented southwest Minnesota passing the first two of three preliminary rounds against 243 other spellers from across the country. He was one of just nine students from the state of Minnesota to make it into the competition.

Mueller-Thompson told the Independent after Tuesday’s preliminaries that he felt nervous about the day, but felt the first two rounds were easier than he imagined.

In round one, that had 42 eliminations, Mueller-Thompson successfully spelt “in silico.” In the second preliminary round, that saw 18 eliminations, he gave the correct definition of “rubric” for the vocabulary section.

“The first two rounds were pretty easy. They weren’t necessarily hard words,” Mueller-Thompson said. “But, it was pretty intense because they had to do a lot of commercial breaks because it was being streamed.”

The round three test of the preliminaries is divided between spelling and vocabulary, and is done in a written-test format.

Mueller-Thompson originally booked his spot in the prestigious competition after winning first place overall at the Southwest West Central Service Cooperative Regional Spelling Bee in Redwood Falls on Feb. 18, his second time participating at regionals.

Mueller-Thompson said he spends a few hours every day studying words and vocabulary leading up to competitions, and first got into spellings bees with school contests.

The competition was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center this year, and Scripps reported there were participants from all 50 states including 13 competitors from various countries like Canada, Germany, Nigeria, Guam and more.

Mueller-Thompson said him and his family arrived in Maryland on Sunday before the competition’s start on Tuesday, and was able to meet other spellers at a Memorial Day picnic on Monday, and noted that it’s been a good experience.

“It’s been super fun,” Mueller-Thompson said.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee first got its start in 1925, and celebrated 100 years of the educational program this year.