McKinney 8th Grader Wins Scripps National Spelling Bee

Karthik Nemmani, and 8th grader from McKinney was declared the champion Thursday night in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Forty-one spellers advanced to the finals Thursday out of a field of 516 — by far the largest in the 91-year history of the competition. By Thursday afternoon, that number had been trimmed to 16 for the prime time broadcast. Of those 16 remaining, four were from North Texas.

The four North Texas finalists that competed Thursday night are Naysa Modi, Rohan Raja, Karthik Nemmani and Abihijay Kodali. Dallas' Sohum Sukhatankar made the cut to 41 Thursday, but lost his chance at the final 16 when he misspellled "ligniperdous" in the 6th Round.

The spellers advanced to Thursday's final rounds by not only spelling two words correctly on stage during Rounds 2 and 3, but by scoring enough points in written spelling and vocabulary tests to advance to the finals.

The group kicked off Part 1 of the finals Thursday morning; Part 2 concluded Thursday night on ESPN.

Learn more about the Champion, finalists and other competitors from North Texas below.

Naysa Modi

Local

The latest news from around North Texas.

Animals and Wildlife 4 hours ago

Wildlife removal expert warns snake sightings on rise in North Texas

Dallas 4 hours ago

Rally, security upgrades one week after shooting at Wilmer Hutchins

Modi, age 12, is in 7th grade at Reynolds Middle School in Frisco. She is sponsored by the Dallas Sports Commission. This is Modi's fourth trip to the National Spelling Bee after tying for 50th in 2015, 46th in 2016 and 7th in 2017. Modi was eliminated in the final round when she misspelled bewusstseinslage.

Rohan Raja

Raja, age 12, is in the 6th grade at Dewitt Perry Middle School in Irving, who is also his sponsor. This is Raja's first trip to the National Spelling Bee. He was eliminated in the 9th round on Thursday night when he misspelled loratadine.

Irving Dewitt Perry Middle School student Rohan Raja talks about making his first appearance in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Karthik Nemmani

Nemmani, age 14, is in the 8th grade at Scoggins Middle School in McKinney, who is also his sponsor. This is Nemmani's first trip to the National Spelling Bee. He was named the champion after spelling haecceitas and koinonia correctly.

Abhijay Kodali

Kodali, age 11, is in 5th grade at Liberty Elementary School in Flower Mound. He is sponsored by the Dallas Sports Commission. This is his first trip to the National Spelling Bee. Abhijay was eliminated in the 16th round on Thursday night when he misspelled aalii.

Flower Mound's Abhijay Kodali says the food at the Scripps National Spelling Bee, his first, has been one of his favorite things about the experience. The fifth grader correctly spelled chronicler in the third round.

Sohum Sukhatankar

Sukhatankar, age 12, is in the 6th grade at St. Mark's School of Texas in Dallas, who is also his sponsor. This is Sukhatankar's second trip to the National Spelling Bee -- in 2017 he tied for 23rd place. Sukhatankar dropped out of the 2018 Bee when he misspelled ligniperdous in the 6th round.

Sohum Suhatnkar, 12, of Dallas, is in the National Spelling Bee for the second time. He placed 23rd in 2017. He is currently a 6th grader at St. Mark's School of Texas. During the preliminary round Tuesday, Suhatnkar spelled "amimia" correctly and advanced to the next round.

Garland's Azin Aneez says her nerves fade away when she starts spelling. The seventh grader at Brighter Horizons Academy correctly spelled armarium in the third round at her first Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Lewisville's Sonika Harish says she's living out a dream by competing in the Scripps National Bee. The seventh grader from Marshall Durham Middle School correctly spelled transience in the third round.

Dallas' Nairit Sarkar says getting used to the cameras was one of the biggest challenges in his first trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee. The eighth grader correctly spelled Warsaw in the third round.

Hephzibah Sujoe, of Fort Worth, advanced to the next round of the National Spelling Bee after spelling "trabeculae" correctly Tuesday. On her journey to the Bee, Hephzibah spelled tenebrism, tyrannous and slurvian correctly.