OXON HILL, Md. (AP) – After four brutally difficult hours and some surprising eliminations, ten spellers are left in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Scripps made some rule changes to make the competition more difficult, and it was evident in the first round Thursday morning, when 24 out of 45 spellers got their words wrong.
Two spellers made the top 10 for the second straight year: 13-year-old Sylvie Lamontagne of Lakewood, Colorado; and 13-year-old Snehaa Kumar of Folsom, California. But Tejas Muthusamy of Glen Allen, Virginia, who made the top 10 the last two years, was eliminated.
Two 11-year-olds made the top 10. Either would be the youngest winner on record.
The championship finals will be broadcast live on ESPN Thursday night. The winner gets more than $45,000 in cash and prizes.