WASHINGTON - After battling some morning nerves, Effingham speller Mitchell Wortman was ready to take the written test that would seal his fate in the 2008 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

The 14-year-old spent several hours alone in his hotel room, poring over root words before taking the 50-question computerized test.

An afternoon trip to Arlington National Cemetery temporarily helped Mitchell stop vowel sounds, root words and languages of origin from bouncing around in his head. As Mitchell walked the pathways with his parents, Teri and Rob, and his sister, Emily, 10 lines of white headstones spanned into view as far as the eye could see.

"It's amazing how many graves there are," Emily said.

The Wortmans toured several of the gravesites, including the final resting place of slain president John F. Kennedy and the Tomb of the Unknowns, where President Bush had stood hours before to make a Memorial Day address.

"I liked that," Mitchell said after seeing the changing of the guard at the tomb.

When they're not busy with spelling bee activities, the Wortmans are trying to take in the many historic attractions in the nation's capital, including George Washington's Mount Vernon estate and area museums.

Before Mitch ;ell entered the written test, he said he had one goal.

"I just hope I beat the second-grader," he said of 8-year-old Sriram Hathwar, the bee's youngest contestant ever. "Or at least tie. I'd take that."

Sriram and Mitchell emerged from the test at the same time, and Mitchell is unsure of how he fared.

"What happens, happens," his dad said. "I told him it's just like golf. The putts either go in, or they don't."

For now, Mitchell and his family eagerly await the completion of the spelling bee's preliminary round Thursday morning. His success in that round, combined with his performance on the written test, will determine if he makes it into the Thursday afternoon's quarterfinal.

The quarterfinal will be broadcast live from 1 to 4:30 p.m. on www.espn360.com. The semifinal will be broadcast live on ESPN from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday, and the final round will air on ABC from 7 to 9 p.m.

For more on the spelling bee, go to http://spellingbee.com.

Annie Getsinger can be reached at agetsinger@herald-review.com or 421-6968.