COEUR d'ALENE - She didn't make it to the semifinals, but Rebekah Pinkerton did North Idaho proud.

Rebekah's run to become a national spelling bee champion came to an end Wednesday at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

The 11-year-old, a home schooled fifth-grader from Coeur d'Alene, correctly spelled her way through the bee's second and third consecutive rounds. But her score on the first preliminary round, a written test of 25 words, was not high enough to put her over the top into the semifinals.

"I don't think there's any academic endeavor with a higher degree of difficulty or more pressure on an 11-year-old than this one, so we're extremely proud of Rebekah," said Mike Patrick, managing editor of The Press. "She's also qualified to compete four more years, so watch out for her in the future."

This is the ninth year The Press and North Idaho College have partnered to send a local speller to compete nationally.

Pinkerton's trip to compete in Washington, D.C., was sponsored by The Press.

To get to the national spelling bee, Rebekah first won the regional bee, coordinated and hosted in March by North Idaho College.

During the second and third preliminary rounds, Rebekah competed on stage against 274 other young spellers under age 16 from throughout the nation and as far away as New Zealand, China and Japan.

Rebekah correctly spelled "anschluss" and "billon."

The words she misspelled during the 25-word written test were "Kafkaesque, vitelline, and hukilau."

A contestant representing North Idaho has not made it past the preliminary rounds in the nine years since The Coeur d'Alene Press began sponsoring the regional winner's trip to the national bee.