Beilue: In ’93, Amarillo’s Urban was one word from spelling immortality – Amarillo.com

David Urban knew the answer to the question almost before the question was even asked.

Renascent.

I can definitely spell that now, Urban said. I spelled it without the s. I possibly could have come across the word before, but I dont ever remember having seen it.

It was 1993, nearly a quarter century ago, and Urban was 13 and just finished seventh grade at Crockett Middle School. It was his second of what would be three trips to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

It was a more innocent time, unlike this weeks whiz kids at the spelling bee with professional tutors, year-round study and a $40,000 cash, among several awards, to the winner.

But 24 years ago, through 15 rounds at the Capital Hilton, Urban, who was 66th the previous year, found himself with Geoff Hooper of Arlington, Tenn., as the only two contestants remaining out of 234 spellers. One would be crowned national champion.

A few rounds before, when only six spellers remained, the parents were invited to go on stage. Dr. Steve Urban, with his lucky dinosaur tie, and wife Joan were among a handful with a close-up view of their children.

It was an anxiety-provoking event, Dr. Urban said. But once he was in the top 10 or so, it was really a feeling of elation. I kind of had the anxiety leave me.

Urban, by the unluck of the draw, would finish as the national runner-up, the highest finish ever by an area speller. Before and after that year, two local spellers have finished eighth.

There was anxiousness and nervousness countered by boredom. Its a stark contrast of just sitting there for an hour and half, and then all of a sudden, youre at the microphone and its pretty intense, he said.

After 13 rounds, three were left Urban, Hooper and Yuni Kim, 12, then of Pottsville, Pa., who would inadvertently later play a major role in Urbans life. Kim stumbled on apotheosize. Urban breezed through connubial and Hooper nailed stupefacient.

Then there were two.

Words were a blind draw, but, man, did Hooper get a couple of late softballs thrown his way. While Urban scratched his head on renascent, Hooper got enchilada. Yes, enchilada, a word Texans can spell by second grade.

Competition rules required Hooper to spell one more word to be champion, which he did. His word? Kamikaze.

I remember getting a little bit perturbed that the guy who won got substantially easier words than the ones I got, Urban said. If anything, maybe a little bit amused and annoyed.

There was a special room, Urban said, where contestants could privately cry, and with a punching bag in it, even vent. For Urban, he was thrilled to be second.

He was interviewed by a couple of TV stations in Washington, and was the banner headline on the June 4, 1993, Amarillo Daily News: Urban Blows It no, wait, Amarilloan finishes 2nd in spelling bee. The next week, they had a brief ceremony at City Hall to declare the day David Urban Day.

It was not a holiday anyone remembered, but it was kind of fun to have a ceremony, he said. Being a champion speller is not going to impress a lot of 12- and 13-year-olds.

Later that year, I got a letter from a lady in Minnesota who had seen me on TV and said I looked exactly like her grandson, and she included a picture of her grandson. I didnt see the resemblance, but Ill have to take her word for it.

Its ironic now, but in a time when spelling has decreased emphasis in school curriculum, the stakes and emphasis for the national championship have never been higher. Like age-group volleyball and basketball players, its essentially year-round.

A word like renascent would be a second- or third-round word now, Urban said.

Urban would start practicing just after the holidays. He would work for about 30 minutes a night, increase that to an hour or so in the spring, and increase that to maybe a couple of hours as the bee drew near. His dad was his coach. That would be positively quaint by todays standards.

To show how long ago that was, Urban got $4,000 and a set of Encyclopedia Britannicas. His parents have all the old encyclopedias they want. Daughter Elizabeth, now a professor of history at West Chester University in Pennsylvania, twice went to the national bee as well.

Urban, 37, graduated from Amarillo High in 1998 and got an English degree from Rice University in 2002. He went to graduate school to study English Literature at Princeton University. He then did an about-face, and for the last four years has been a computer programmer in New York City for a start-up company, Medstro, a social network for physicians.

But the National Spelling Bee runner-up did have one major perk. While at freshman orientation at Rice, he was approached by a freshman girl from New Jersey named Celina Fang. She asked if he was David Urban, a one-time spelling bee finalist?

I thought my fame had preceded me, he said.

Rather surprised, he said indeed he was. As it turned out, Celina Fang was a high school friend of Yuni Kim, who finished third in 1993 when Urban was runner-up. Who knew?

Celina Fang, a former reporter for the New York Times and ABC News, would eventually become Urbans wife. Theyve been together now for 16 years. Rather s-e-r-e-n-d-i-p-i-t-o-u-s for both.

Jon Mark Beilue is an AGN Media columnist. He can be reached at jon.beilue@amarillo.com or 806-345-3318. Twitter: @jonmarkbeilue.

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Beilue: In '93, Amarillo's Urban was one word from spelling immortality - Amarillo.com