Spelling Bee Co-Champions Again

Scripps Spelling Bee co-champions [Facebook][/caption]It went 24 championship rounds before 13-year old Jairam Hathwar of Painted Post, New York and 11-year old Nihar Janga of Austin, Texas were declared Scripps National Spelling Bee co-champions.  It's the third year in a row the Bee ended in a tie.  And it's the ninth year in a row that the champions were Indian-Americans.

To earn the victory Jairam correctly spelled Feldenkrais, the name of a somatic educational system developed by Moshe Feldenkrais.  Then Nihar correctly spelled gesellschaft - an association of individuals with common goals.

Along the way the two boys correctly spelled some incredible words that most people have never heard of:

• doab
• promyshlennik
• lygaeid
• ecorche
• krausen
• vellancico
• myiasis
• parinari
• stymphalian
• ynambu
• pavonazzetto
• phulkari
• kjeldahl
• haab
• guignolet
• Hohenzollern
• juamave
• groenendael
• zindiq
• euchologion

With $40,000 on the line for the winner and $30,000 for second place, as co-champions the two boys will split the first and second place prize money

Santino Panzica of West Falls, an eighth grader at Immaculate Conception School represented Western New York.  He correctly spelled two words, 'myoglobin' and 'prorogue'.  Myoglobin is a protein found in muscle tissue.  Prorogue means to defer or postpone, especially in politics.

Unfortunately Santino came just short of making the top 45 who participated in Thursday's finals.  Santino finished tied for 46th.