Clarksville Middle Student Among 8 National Spelling Bee Winners

A Howard County student was among the winners of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. In what was an eight-way tie, the win was historic for the bee, which typically has one single winner.

Clarksville Middle School eighth grader Saketh Sundar, 13, was among the spelling bee champions.

The tournament began with over 500 spellers and only 50 of them made it to the first round of the finals that ended Thursday afternoon.

Co-champions had been named for the past three years, but by 12:05 a.m. Friday, it had been an hour since any of the eight students had incorrectly spelled a word.

"In an unprecedented display of academic achievement, eight spellers have become co-champions of the 2019 Scripps National Spelling Bee, making history as the first group to share the coveted title in the 92 years of the storied event," bee officials said in a statement Thursday night. The championship aired on ESPN at 8:30 p.m.

Official Bee pronouncer Jacques A. Bailly, a 1980 national champion, said the dictionary was no match for these whiz kids.

"Champion spellers, we are in uncharted territory," he said. "We have plenty of words remaining on our list, but will soon run out of words that can possibly challenge you — the most phenomenal assemblage of spellers in the history of this storied competition. We have thrown the dictionary at you, and so far, you've shown the dictionary who's boss."

Here are the words they correctly spelled for the right to collectively hoist the trophy:

• Rishik Gandhasri, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from San Jose, California, correctly spelled "auslaut."
• Erin Howard, a 14-year-old eighth-grader from Huntsville, Alabama, correctly spelled "erysipelas."
• Saketh Sundar, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Clarksville, Maryland, correctly spelled "bougainvillea."
• Shruthika Padhy, a 13-year-old eighth-grader from Cherry Hill, New Jersey, correctly spelled "aiguillette."
• Sohum Sukhatankar, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Dallas, Texas, correctly spelled "pendeloque."
• Christopher Serrao, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Whitehouse, New Jersey, correctly spelled "cernuous."
• Abhijay Kodali, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Flower Mound, Texas, correctly spelled "palama."
• Rohan Raja, a 13-year-old seventh-grader from Irving, Texas, correctly spelled "odylic."

The spelling bee champion gets a $50,000 cash prize and a Scripps cup. All of the "Octochamps" will receive the winning prize after spelling perfectly throughout the 20 rounds of competition, officials said.

Sundar has competed in the past three years in the bee, finishing 19th last year, 12th in 2017 and 46th in 2016, according to Scripps officials.

Last year, McKinney, Texas, resident Karthik Nemmani was crowned the spelling bee champion. The winning word was “koinonia,” which is defined as an “intimate spiritual communion and participative sharing in a common religious commitment and spiritual community.”

Patch national staffers Feroze Dhanoa and Beth Dalbey contributed to this report.