89th Scripps National Spelling Bee
89th Scripps National Spelling Bee | |
---|---|
Date | May 24–26, 2016 |
Location | Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland |
Winner | Jairam Hathwar Nihar Janga (co-winners) |
Age | 13 (Hathwar) 11 (Janga) |
Residence | Painted Post, New York (Hathwar) Austin, Texas (Janga) |
Sponsor | Corning Rotary Club (Hathwar)[1] Houston Public Media (Janga)[2][3] |
Sponsor location | Corning, New York (Hathwar) Houston, Texas (Janga) |
Winning word | Feldenkrais (Hathwar) gesellschaft (Janga) |
No. of contestants | 284 |
Preceded by | 88th Scripps National Spelling Bee |
The 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee was held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland (its sixth year at this location) on May 24–26, 2016.[4][5]
Competition
The competition began with 284 contestants (143 boys and 141 girls), winnowed down from 11 million students who participated in local bees around the country.[6] The age range of the spellers was 6 to 15, 70 of whom were making repeat appearances. 29 spellers were relatives of prior contestants.[6] For the first time, a first-grader qualified, 6-year old Akash Vukoti of Texas.[7][8]
On Tuesday May 24, all contestants took a written test. Then, on May 25, 34 contestants were eliminated when they missed their first word in the first oral round, leaving 251 spellers.[9] By late on May 25, the field had been reduced to 171. After the written scores were added, the field was further reduced to 45 finalists.[7][10]
The final rounds were held on May 26, beginning with the 45 finalists.[11] After round 4, only 21 spellers were left,[7] and after round 7 there were 10.[12]
Notwithstanding efforts to avoid a third year running of inseparable co-winners (see below), Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga were declared co-champions after 24 championship rounds.[13][14]
Co-champion Nihar Janga, at age 11, was the first winner since 2002 to win in his first appearance at the national bee.[15] Jairam Hathwar became the second sibling of a past champion (his brother Sriram Hathwar was co-champion in 2014) to win the competition.[16]
Thirteen-year old Snehaa Kumar of Folsom, California placed third, falling on "usucapion" in the first championship round.[17][18] Sylvie Lamontagne of Lakewood, Colorado, also 13, placed fourth, missing "chaoborine."[15] Other finalists included Sreeniketh Vogoti, Smithri Upadhyayula, Jashun Paluru, Rutvik Gandhasri, Cooper Komatsu, and Mitchell Robson.
Changes this year
After two consecutive years where the Bee ended in a tie, it was announced in April 2016 that harder words would be used in the final rounds.[19]
The first place prize this year was increased to $40,000 from $30,000, second to $30,000 and third to $20,000.[19]
Word list championship round
References
- ^ (10 March 2016). Hathwar wins another trip to Scripps, The Leader (Corning)
- ^ (26 May 2016). Leander ISD student, 11, named co-champion in National Spelling Bee, Austin American-Statesman
- ^ Levin, Matt (26 May 2016). Texas 11-year-old Nihar Janga crowned co-champ at national spelling bee, Houston Chronicle
- ^ When is the Scripps National Spelling Bee?, spellingbee.com, Retrieved 4 March 2016
- ^ Porter, Toriano (4 March 2016). Spelling bee champ upholds family tradition, Lee's Summit Journal
- ^ a b (19 May 2016). The nation readies for the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, WRTV
- ^ a b c Theobald, Bill (26 May 2016). 171 survive in National Spelling Bee, but only 45 advance, USA Today
- ^ (26 May 2016). National spelling bee moves into final day, USA Today
- ^ Theobald, Bill (25 May 2016). 251 spellers survive in Scripps National Spelling Bee, USA Today
- ^ Finalists (2016), spellingbee.com, Retrieved 26 May 2016
- ^ (18 May 2016). ‘SportsCenter’ anchor Kevin Negandhi to host finals of Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN, American Bazaar
- ^ Official Tweet, @scrippsbee ("Rd 7 ends w/10 #SpellingBee finalists! Watch LIVE on @espn @ 8PM! ...)
- ^ Farrington, Dana (26 May 2016). Another Year, Another Impasse As 2 Win Scripps National Spelling Bee, The Two-Way, NPR, retrieved 26 May 2016
- ^ Tumlty, Brian (27 May 2016). Painted Post seventh-grader Jairam Hathwar is national bee co-champion, Democrat and Chronicle
- ^ a b Nuckols, Ben (28 May 2016). National Spelling Bee co-champions include youngest ever, Associated Press
- ^ Associated Press (27 May 2016)[1], "ESPN"
- ^ Nuckols, Ben (27 May 2016). National Spelling Bee ends in its unlikeliest tie to date, Associated Press
- ^ Musal, Steve (27 May 2016). California teen Snehaa Ganesh Kumar takes third in Spelling Bee, MedillDC
- ^ a b Mele, Christopher (22 April 2016). Harder Words Await Competitors at National Spelling Bee, The New York Times