Culver City Observer -

Cooper Komatsu, an eighth-grader at Culver City Middle School, tied for seventh in the 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 26.

Komatsu began by correctly spelling cacomixl, glaucothoe, buccal, rerebrace, and myoclonus. Words that we dare say most adults couldn't spell.

In the ninth round, Komatsu misspelled illicium, a genus of flowering plan, ending his run that started with 285 spellers.

Cooper, a well rounded person, has studied Japanese since he was a kindergartener, and likes how it connects him to his ancestors' culture. He has a passion for geography, maps and discovering new places. Social studies and math are his favorite subjects.

In his free time Cooper participates on his school's cross country team, on the Lego Robotics team, and in Boy Scouts of America.

He is a Los Angeles Clippers fan but he loves the Los Angeles Lakers too. The best board game, in Cooper's opinion, will always be Scrabble. After a fourth-place finish last year, Cooper and his teammate, playing as "Lucky 13," won the North American School Scrabble Championship tournament out of 85 teams from across the United States and Canada.

Cooper tied for 11th place in the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, and his grandfather Robert Rosenberg competed in the Bee in 1955.

Oh yes and you ask what a cacomixl is? It's a catlike mammal found in southern North America, related to but smaller than a raccoon.

Photo Caption:

Cooper Komatsu

Photo Courtesy Scripps National Spelling Bee