WASHINGTON -- A champion speller from Madison fell just short of victory Thursday night in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C.

INTERACTIVE: Virtual Spelling Bee

Isabel Jacobson, 14, missed in the ninth round on the Greek-based word for blue-green algae, "cyanophycean."

When she was knocked out, only two boys remained to go for the championship, so she wound up in a tie for third. Last year, she tied for 14th.

In Thursday night's nationally televised finals, Jacobson correctly spelled a word of Greek origin, "helodes," for growing in marshes, and then nailed a French-based word, "epaulement," meaning a side work filled with earth, or earth heaped up, to afford cover from the flanking fire of an enemy.

The eighth-grader from O'Keeffe Middle School had advanced Wednesday by correctly spelling "danceable," "antioxidant," and "myrmecologist."

Then she advanced through Thursday morning's semifinals by spelling "lekvar" and "cannetille," a couple of words not found in many dictionaries. Lekvar is prune pudding and cannetille is a type of wirework jewelry.