WASHINGTON (AP) – “Potpourri” was the sweet smell of success for eighth-grader Jack Ausick on Wednesday when he spelled the word for perfumed flower petals without a hitch at the annual national spelling bee.

Ausick of Park County, Mont., high-fived four competitors as he returned to his seat in the third round of the competition.

Others contestants were not so lucky. Just 71 of the original 273 advanced to the fourth round.

Fifth-grader Ronnie Cowsert of Port Saint Lucie, Fla., looked a little heartsick after he misspelled the word for liver disease – “cirrhosis” – in the second round.

Thomas Guthrie of Maine sealed his fate in the third round after giving the wrong spelling for “voltammetry.”

The champion at the 78th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee will be crowned today.

Beaming seventh-grader Matthew Giese, known as a Latin and math whiz back home in Mason, Ohio, made it to the third round. He correctly spelled “kakemono” after asking for its definition – a picture painted on silk, suitable for hanging – and hearing it used in a sentence.

The competitors included 146 boys and 127 girls, ages 9 to 14, who were being tested from a list of 950 specially chosen words.

Each speller wins at least $50. The first-place winner gets $28,000 in cash, scholarships and bonds, plus books from Encyclopedia Britannica. That’s some $10,000 more than in previous years.

The contest is administered by E.W. Scripps Co. The youngsters all won local contests sponsored by newspapers.