Scripps National Spelling Bee Has Eight Champions

If you have been watching the Scripps National Spelling Bee over the years, you know that it is usually one person who is declared the winner. There were co-champions in 1950, 1957, 1962, 2014, 2015, and 2016, but on Thursday, May 30, 2019, the spelling bee had a different ending that made history.

This year's competition was unprecedented, because there were eight champions. Each person will receive a trophy and $50,000. The money will not be split among the winners.

The competition went on long into the night, because the final eight students kept on spelling the words correctly. It was 12:05 AM when Rohan Raja spelled the last correct word. It had been more than an hour since anyone had given a wrong answer. By that time, the competition had gone on more than an hour and a half past the time it was scheduled to end.

Even though the students were up late, all of the champions were interviewed on two different morning talk shows early on Friday morning. They talked to the host on CNN's New Day, and on ABC's Good Morning America.

How did the spelling bee end up with eight champions?

The winners are referred to as "octochamps," and the "elite eight." All of them became champions, because they kept on spelling words correctly until the organization ran out of challenging words to give them. This has never happened in Scripp's 94-year history.

The official pronouncer, Dr. Jacques Bailly, had finished 17 rounds when he realized there were not enough challenging words left in the dictionary for more rounds. Calling it unchartered territory, he told the competitors that all those left standing after the next three rounds, they would be named co-champions. After that information, none of the students missed a single word. They began rooting for one another. Dr. Baily called the eight winners the "most phenomenal assemblage of super-spellers in the bee's history." After all, they had spelled 47 consecutive words correctly.

More than 11 million students applied for the Scripps National Spelling Bee. However, most of them were eliminated after taking the written tests, and other required activities. This year's spelling bee had 562 contestants who were accepted compared to 515 who competed last year. By the way, 162 competitors who competed last year returned to compete again this year. In fact, one of the eight winners came in third place last year. There were nine sets of twins in this year's competition. The oldest spellers are 15, which is the maximum age. One speller is only 7.

All eight of the finalists began rooting for themselves and for the rest of the group. The eight champions include the following students:

1. Rishik Gandhasri, a 13-year-old seventh grader from San Jose, California.
2. Erin Howard, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Huntsville, Alabama.
3. Abhijay Kodali, 12, a sixth grader from Flower Mound, Texas who finished third last year.
4. Shruthika Padhy, a 13-year-old Cherry Hill, New Jersey eighth grader.
5. Rohan Raja, 13, a seventh grader from Irving, Texas.
6. Christopher Serrao, 13, a seventh grader from Whitehouse Station, New Jersey.
7. Sohum Sukhatankar, 13, seventh grader from Dallas, Texas.
8. Saketh Sundar, a 13-year-old Clarksville, Maryland eighth grader.

Abhijay, Rohan, and Sohum are friends from Texas. Abhijay said he knew all of his competitors could do it, because many of them used the same strategies as he did to prepare for the spelling bee. He should know, because this was his second competition.

Sohum Sukhatankar said he was rooting for everyone else, because he knows how hard it is to get to that place in the competition, and everyone deserves to win.

Prizes

Winners will receive a number of prizes.

1. Each winner will receive a $50,000 cash prize from Scripps. Most of the students said they will use the prize money for their college tuition.
2. All winners will receive their own Scripps National Spelling Bee trophy.
3. The eight champions will receive $2,500 cash prize, and reference library.
4. All of the champions will get $400 in reference works, and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium.
5. They will go on trips for interviews. For example, they will take a trip to New York City to appear on LIVE with Kelly and Ryan.
6. They will take a trip to Hollywood to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!

The Scripps National Spelling Bee is held at the same time every year during the week following the Memorial Day weekend in a hotel or convention center in or near Washington, DC. For the last eight years, the competition has been held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center Hotel in National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington.

With an unprecedented number of winners this year, the public is wondering if Scripps will prepare differently for next year's competition.