Audrey Bantug, an eighth-grader from San Ramon, correctly spelled the words "prosciutto" and "umami," a savory taste sensation. She is one of 42 spellers out of 281 who made it to the semi-finals.
Thursday's competition begins at 11 a.m.
Neha Konakalla of Cupertino, 13, got all her words correct Wednesday, but did not have a high enough score to move on.
The final cut was based on points which included a written test.
