Manassas Student Returns in Bid To Win Scripps National Spelling Bee

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A Manassas student is among 285 spellers competing for the title of 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion.

The preliminary rounds began Tuesday at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., and continue through Wednesday afternoon.

Ankita Vadiala, 13, an eighth-grader at Stonewall Middle School in Manassas, is among the contestants. Her sponsor is Prince William Today.

Her profile on the spelling bee website says: Ankita is creative: she loves to write, enjoys dancing and considers herself quite the thespian. At school, she is a member of the VEX Robotics club and has participated in robotics competitions. She is also an editor for her school’s yearbook and performs with her school’s chamber orchestra. A big fan of anime and Japanese culture, Ankita is “head-over-heels” when it comes to Japanese music, clothing and food, and she would someday love to travel there. Ankita previously competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2014 and placed 13th.

The spellers’ favorite words includeflibbertigibbet,onomatopoeia,schadenfreude, syzygy,tchotchke andtriskaidekaphobia.

Semifinalists will be announced late Wednesday afternoon, and broadcast live on ESPN3.

Semifinals competition is set for Thursday morning, with the championship round to be held Thursday evening. ESPN will broadcast the finals lives starting at 8 p.m. ET.

»Photo of Ankita Vadiala, courtesy of Mark Bowen/Scripps National Spelling Bee