2 NJ Students Part Of National Spelling Bee History

Two New Jersey residents were part of spelling history Thursday night. For the first time, eight winners walked away as co-champions from the 92nd annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, and two of them were from New Jersey.

Shruthika Padhy of Cherry Hill and Christopher Serrao of Whitehouse Station were among the eight finalists remaining when the announcement came that at the end of the 20th round of spelling, whoever was remaining would be named co-champions.

For Padhy, the word “aiguillette” stood in the way of her and history. For Serrao, the word he last conquered was “cernuous.” After both contestants spelled the words correctly, they stood among the other “octo-champs” who had made history. To see the full results, click here.

"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,” Bee Pronouncer Dr. Jacques Bailly told the champions. “We have thrown the dictionary at you, and so far, you've shown the dictionary who's boss."

The bee ended shortly after midnight, more than an hour after the last word had been spelled wrong, according to the Scripps National Spelling Bee website. That in itself was an amazing feat, as the spellers had been going at it since 10:30 a.m.

The finals began at 8:30 p.m. and were televised nationally on ESPN2. It began with 16 finalists, and only eight were eliminated over the next three and a half hours. There had never been eight winners before, but the competition had crowned co-champions each year from 2014-16.

Padhy, 13, attends Rosa International Middle School in Cherry Hill. She spelled a total of 18 words correctly en route to the co-championship. That list of words can be found here. She lived in Arizona and Texas before moving to Cherry Hill. She was a runner-up in the 2017 bee.

Serrao’s sponsor is listed as Discover Lehigh Valley in Allentown, Pa. The list of words he spelled correctly en route to history can be found here. Serrao, who attends Readington Middle School in Readington Township, won the Lehigh Valley Regional spelling bee three consecutive years.

See related: Scripps National Spelling Bee: The Cherry Hill Contestant