The Spell Is Broken for Indiana’s Top Bee Competitors

Tanvi Rakesh, a fourth-grader at Longbranch Elementary in Florence, Kentucky, was eliminated from the national competition after she misspelled the word “appellation” giving the spelling “Appalachian”.

The proud parents told a Tulsa World reporter that they discovered her talent when she was able to spell “restaurant” without having been taught the word.

Zarin earned three points each for her correct spellings Wednesday. However, her preliminary test score from Tuesday was not high enough for her to join the 40 finalists. Ultimately, the top 40 spellers advanced to Thursday’s finals. The test goes a long way toward determining who will be among the 50 or so spellers to advance beyond the preliminary rounds.

All finalists still left standing Thursday evening will be given a tiebreaker written test with 12 words and 12 vocabulary questions.

An impressive run but no championship for IN at this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Noll reported that she will be back onstage at 1 p.m.to begin the third round.

The final round of the bee, which takes place at National Harbor, will be broadcast live on ESPN starting at 8:30 p.m.

The 90th Bee, conducted at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center near Washington, D.C., features spellers ages 6 to 15 from across the country and world.

Miller said he hopes to compete again next year. For 13-year-old Hanna Ghouse, a flubbed “McMansion” spelling took her out of the nationwide competition. In 6th grade he won his school and finished second at his regional bee.

Martius Bautista, a seventh-grader who was in the national bee for the third year in a row, accumulated 28 points in Wednesday’s preliminary round, but contestants needed 29 to advance, Ryndon Bautista said.