San Antonio girl wins Scripps National Spelling Bee in lightning-round tiebreaker

OXON HILL, Md. — Harini Logan, an eighth grader from San Antonio, won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday in the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker.

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Logan, 14, defeated Vikram Raju, 12, a seventh grader from Denver, after spelling 21 words correctly in a 90-second span, The New York Times reported. Raju spelled 15 words correctly in the 90-second allotted time period, according to the newspaper.

“It is my fourth time at the bee, and this is just such a dream -- and well, I am just overwhelmed,” the Texas resident said after her victory.

The annual spelling bee, which features elementary and middle school students, was canceled in 2020 due to COVID-19, CNN reported. In 2021, the first three rounds were completed virtually for the first time since the event began in 1925. The finals were held at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex near Orlando, Florida, instead of at the National Harbor in Maryland, the news outlet reported.

In 2021, Zaila Avant-garde, 14, of Harvey, Louisiana, became the first Black American to win the Bee. She was the second Black person to win the event -- Jody-Anne Maxwell of Jamaica won the event in 1998, The Associated Press reported.

On Thursday Harini defeated 230 competitors to win the top prize, besting 12 people in the finals. Words in the final rounds included stumpers such as scyllarian, pyrrolidone, Otukian and Senijextee, the Times reported.

Logan won more than $50,000 in cash and prizes. Her name will also be on the Scripps Cup, the official championship trophy of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, according to The Associated Press.

She is the fifth Scripps champion to be coached by Grace Walters, a former speller, fellow Texan and student at Rice University, according to the news organization.

Scripps brought back the word meaning round, the Times reported.

After the word meaning round, only three spellers were left, but the judges reinstated Harini after deciding that the definition she gave for “pullulation” could be construed as correct.

“Harini getting out was horrible and unexpected,” said Avant-garde, who watched the finals live at the Bee and was in the “losers’ lounge” with the eliminated spellers. “Everybody literally screamed when that bell rung.”

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Photos: San Antonio girl wins Scripps National Spelling Bee 2022 Harini Logan, 14, from San Antonio, Texas, celebrates winning the Scripps National Spelling Bee with her family, brother Naren Logan, right, mom Rampriya Logan, second from right, and dad Logan Anjaneyulu, left, Thursday, June 2, 2022, in Oxon Hill, Md. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

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