Friday, 27 May 2016

National spelling bee ends in a tie for third consecutive year

Nihar Janga of Texas and Jairam Hathwar of New York are the new co-champions.

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When Nebraska’s Tharein Potuhera correctly spelled the word ‘propinquity’ at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, he did what any of us would have done…he dabbed on em’. Jarrad Henderson, USA TODAY

Harshita Shet, 12, of White Plains, N.Y., works on the spelling of "Stockholm" in Round 3 of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Md., on May 25, 2016.(Photo: Jack Gruber, USA TODAY NETWORK)

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Erin Howard of Huntsville, Ala., was the first speller to compete in Round 4 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday --- and the first to fall.

The 11-year-old misspelled “Cheltenham,” which refers to a large family of printing types, at the 89th annual bee. Erin spelled it “Chelotnam.”

The bee opened Tuesday with 284 contestants, but only 45 went on to compete on Thursday.

Although 171 spellers were error-free in their on-stage performance Wednesday, many didn't do well enough to advance to Thursday's rounds because of their score on a written test taken Tuesday.

The contest is being held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md.

The original 284 spellers ranged in age from 6 to 14 and were almost evenly divided among boys (143) and girls (141). They hailed from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, as well as the Bahamas, Canada, Europe, Ghana, Guam, Jamaica, Puerto Rico, South Korea and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

For the first time, competitors included a first-grader — 6-year-old Akash Vukoti of San Angelo, Texas.

Akash aced the spelling of "inviscate" in Round 2 on Wednesday — the word means to encase in a sticky substance. But he stumbled in Round 3 on "bacteriolytic," which means of, relating to or producing the destruction or dissolution of bacteria.

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6-year-old Texan misspells word, ending his spelling bee competition

USA TODAY

Spellers from around world compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee

This year’s winner will take home $40,000 in cash -- $10,000 more than last year – along with a trophy and other prizes.

The past two bees ended with co-champions. Last year’s winners were Vanya Shivashankar of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam of Chesterfield, Mo. The two battled through 20 tense, error-free rounds.

The bee’s early final rounds are being broadcast live Thursday on ESPN2, and the later rounds will be broadcast tonight on ESPN. The champion speller — or spellers — will be crowned Thursday night during a prime-time broadcast on ESPN.

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