Sympatric
The Denver Post recorded the state championship that sent her forward, headlining it with the word she won on: sympatric, a biologist's term for species occupying the same territory without interbreeding. State bees are the last filter before the national field, and each one produces exactly one speller.
That win put her in Washington. The Associated Press report carried by The Boston Globe on 28 May 2015 named the ten spellers who had reached the final; Sylvie was among them and tied for ninth. Reaching the last ten as a first-year finalist is already an outlier result; most spellers who arrive at the national bee do not survive the preliminary rounds at all.
Fourth in 2016
She improved sharply the following year, finishing fourth at 13. NPR's coverage of the 2016 bee described the now-familiar ending: another impasse, with two spellers declared co-champions after the word list failed to separate them.
Fourth place in that field means she was among the last handful standing on the final night, two years running. The bee's structure makes such consistency rare: a single mistimed word in an early round sends a contender home before the cameras have warmed up.
Cerastes and chaoborine
Cerastes is the horned viper, the genus name taken straight from Greek. Chaoborine refers to the phantom midges of the family Chaoboridae. The first ended her 2015 run, the second her 2016 one.
Both are scientific Latin and Greek, which is where the modern bee lives. Competitors at this level are not learning words so much as learning systems: which language a word came through, what that language does to vowels, and which of three plausible spellings survives the rule. A speller who knows that chaoborine passes through Greek has already eliminated half the possibilities before saying a letter.
What is documented — and what is not
Documented: the Colorado state title won on sympatric, a tie for ninth in 2015, fourth place in 2016 at the age of 13, her home town of Lakewood, and the two words that eliminated her. The research record gives her birth year as 2003.
Not documented in these sources: her school, her family, whether she competed nationally in other years, and anything after 2016. The Denver Post source in the record carries no publication date, which is noted here rather than smoothed over.
Why two finals is the real achievement
Winning a state bee once is the outcome of a year of study. Doing it again, and then improving from ninth to fourth against a field that also improves, is evidence of method rather than of a single good night.
Colorado sends one speller. Twice that speller was Sylvie Lamontagne, and twice she reached the closing rounds of a competition that begins with millions of schoolchildren. The record stops in 2016, and this page stops with it: no later interview, no college, no adult career appears in the sources gathered for this entry.
Watch: Sylvie Lamontagne on camera
| Person | Country | Milestone | Age / Stat |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvie Lamontagne | United States | Fourth place at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee | Age 0 |
| Arvind Mahankali | United States | Won the 2013 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Kerry Close | United States | Won the 2006 Scripps National Spelling Bee at 13 | Age 13 |
| Hugh Tosteson García | Puerto Rico (United States) | National Spelling Bee champion 1975 | Age 14 |
| Roy Seligman | Bahamas | First speller from the Bahamas to reach the Scripps National Spelling Bee… | — |
What is documented — and what is not
✓ Documented
- She won the Colorado state spelling bee on sympatric.
- She tied for ninth in the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee final.
- She finished fourth in 2016 at the age of 13.
- She was eliminated on cerastes in 2015 and chaoborine in 2016.
? Unverified, disputed or wrong
- The publication date of the Denver Post report, which the record does not carry.
- Her school and sponsoring region.
- Whether she competed nationally in years other than 2015 and 2016.
- Anything about her life after 2016.
Questions people ask about Sylvie Lamontagne
How old was Sylvie Lamontagne at her best finish?
Thirteen, when she placed fourth at the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee. The research record gives her birth year as 2003.
What word won her the Colorado title?
Sympatric — a biological term for species that share a territory without interbreeding. The Denver Post used it in its headline.
Which words eliminated her nationally?
Cerastes, the horned viper, in 2015; and chaoborine, relating to phantom midges, in 2016.
Where is Sylvie Lamontagne from?
Lakewood, Colorado. She reached the national bee as her state's representative.
How did the 2016 national bee end?
With two co-champions, after the final could not be resolved — what NPR called another impasse.
Is Sylvie Lamontagne on Wikipedia?
The research record finds no article under her name.
Where is she now?
No source used here says. The documented record ends with the 2016 final.
Did she compete more than twice?
The sources used here place her in the 2015 and 2016 national finals. They do not rule out other years, and they do not establish them.
Quick quiz: how well do you know Sylvie’s story?
Which word won Sylvie Lamontagne the Colorado title?
Where did she finish nationally in 2016?
What is a cerastes?
Sources
- Sympatric is music to Colorado State Spelling Bee champion — The Denver Post
- Another Year, Another Impasse As 2 Win Scripps National Spelling Bee — NPR, 2016-05-26
- Ten make finals of 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee — The Boston Globe (AP), 2015-05-28
Checked by the Geniuses.club editorial team. Ages are given as of September 2026.
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