WASHINGTON - After traveling from across the country, she took the stage Wednesday before hundreds of people and dozens of cameras, stepped to the microphone and took her best shot at spelling a word that most people have never even heard before.

And even though the Wyoming speller, Kelly Sullivan of Riverton, didn't make it to the championship round, she competed at a top level with 275 students and will take home cash and other prizes from the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The contest began with a written test of 25 tough words Wednesday morning. Sullivan scored 20 out of 25 on that test. Waiting to take the stage for round two, the 14-year-old said she felt a mixture of nervousness and confidence.

Because the spellers took the microphone in alphabetical order according to state, she had to wait to the end of the round. "Just waiting while everyone else is going, that's the hardest for me," Sullivan said.

Her word was "cahier," and the judges read a long and somewhat convoluted definition of the word, meaning a report or parliamentary document drawn up by French officials, particularly before the French Revolution. She spelled it "caille," and did not make it to round three.

The trip to the bee was the first visit to the nation's capital for Sullivan, an eighth-grader at Riverton Middle School, and it gave her the opportunity for some unique experiences.

Visiting Arlington National Cemetery on Memorial Day, Sullivan and her parents stood in a line they thought was to see the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, but soon realized they actually were about to see President Bush give his holiday address.

At the ceremony they also saw and spoke with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. Upon hearing why she was in town, Rumsfeld asked Sullivan to spell his last name.

"I was so nervous, I spelled it f-i-e-l-d," she said.

The final rounds of the spelling be will be shown live on national television today, with ESPN broadcasting the daytime section and ABC broadcasting the two-hour evening finale.