To Bee Or Not To Bee. How Hoosiers Fare In National Spelling Competition
In 1928, Betty Robinson was the first Hoosier to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. It was a long wait until 2004 that another Indiana speller took the top prize. That was David Tidmarsh. More recently Sameer Mishra won the competition in 2008. The grand prize will be awarded during the finals Thursday, June 2 in Washington, D.C for the 2022 champion.
This year’s contest is held just outside of Washington, in National Harbor, Maryland. Competitors this year include 234 spellers. The winner takes home $50,000 cash from Scripps, plus further money prizes and reference works from Merriam-Webster and Encyclopedia Britannica. Hosted by actor actor LeVar Burton, the competition is broadcast live on live show was moved to ION and Bounce networks.
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
For over 50 years, the Bee and Merriam-Webster have worked together to bring interesting, meaningful words to the best spellers across the country. Merriam-Webster Unabridged is the official dictionary of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Head judge Mary Brooks said,
“It is all about words, and the power of words. In isolation, this Spelling Bee is just a wonderful competition that celebrates young people’s skills. In the bigger picture of what’s going on in our world, it matters immensely that young people have an understanding of the power of the words – not just how to spell them.”
(Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
How well did the 7 Hoosiers at the National Spelling Bee perform this year?
Unfortunately, none of them advanced to the final round.
- Wes Cooper, 10, La Porte
- Eliminated in Round 1 (Spelling round) on the word “meringue”
- Noemi Galan, 14, Redkey
- Eliminated in Round 1 (Spelling round) on the word “sporran”
- Joey Finnerty, 13, Lafayette
- Eliminated in Round 2 (Word meaning round) on the word “epoxy”
- Abram Polley, 14, Martinsville
- Eliminated in Round 3 (Spelling round) on the word “senescence”
- Ishan Ramrakhiani, 14, Roanoke
- Eliminated in Round 5 (Spelling round) on the word “splanchnicectomy”
- Riya Koya, 14, Carmel
- Eliminated in Round 5 (Spelling round) on the word “impayable”
- Achyut Ethira, 12, Fort Wayne
- Eliminated in Round 7 (Spelling round) on the word “stasimon”
