ENCANTO, Calif. (KGTV) - A set of triplets took sibling rivalry to new heights in this year's spelling bee at O'Farrell Charter School.
Seventh graders Miguel, Maya and Mia Brizuela finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the school competition, respectively. Miguel advanced to the County-wide bee, held Thursday at Town and Country Hotel in Mission Valley.
"I'm very good at grammar, so it's really easy for me," says Miguel, when asked how he managed to win. But he also admits he got help from his sister, Maya.
"We were going back and forth, back and forth. And then, finally, Maya just decided to give up because she said that she didn't want to go to the county," he says.
Maya confirmed the story that she let her brother win.
"Like, 1% of me wanted to win," she says. "But I have stage fright. I didn't want to go up there in the auditorium and spell words in front of a lot of people," she says.
But it's Mia, who finished 4th at the school, who believes she's the best speller of the three.
"I felt like I needed to raise myself to their level of spelling," she says of her finish in the competition. "And I like to correct their grammar a lot."
The three say they practice by holding mini-spelling bees at home, where their parents give them words to spell. They also study for 1-2 hours each night before bed.
Now that Miguel had advanced to the County-wide competition, his sisters say they'll be there to cheer for him.
"He's my brother, I love him," says Maya. "No matter what, we love each other."
