Lena Greenberg was in constant motion as she stood waiting for her turn at the microphone at the National Spelling Bee -- arms waving, feet dancing, head bobbing.

"It calmed me down," Greenberg said later, although she certainly never looked calm.

Speaking in a loud, high-pitched voice, she spelled the words "jong" and "thalian" correctly. When the judges nodded their heads, she sprinted and skipped back to her chair and doubled over in delight.

Greenberg, 14, of Philadelphia, was one of 50 spellers to advance to the semifinals of the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday after 228 participants were eliminated. Last year, she missed the semifinals by one point.

Thursday's semifinals will not include the youngest speller in bee history, 6-year-old Lori Anne Madison of Lake Ridge, Va., although she made a valiant effort. Lori Anne misspelled one of her two words during the preliminary rounds -- "ingluvies," which she started with an "e" -- and her score on Tuesday's computer test wasn't enough to make up the difference.