The 89th
Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee (formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and commonly called the National Spelling Bee) is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scri ...
was held at the
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center is a hotel and convention center located at National Harbor, Prince George's County, in the U.S. state of Maryland. The hotel is situated along the shores of the Potomac, downriver from Washingto ...
in
National Harbor, Maryland
National Harbor is a census-designated place (CDP) in Prince George's County, Maryland, United States, located along the Potomac River near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge and just south of Washington, D.C. It originated as a multi-use waterfront devel ...
(its sixth year at this location) on May 24–26, 2016.
[When is the Scripps National Spelling Bee?](_blank)
, spellingbee.com, Retrieved 4 March 2016[Porter, Toriano (4 March 2016)]
''Lee's Summit Journal''
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.
[(19 May 2016)]
The nation readies for the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee
''WRTV'' The age range of the spellers was 6 to 15, 70 of whom were making repeat appearances. 29 spellers were relatives of prior contestants.
For the first time, a first-grader qualified, 6-year old
Akash Vukoti of Texas.
[(26 May 2016)]
National spelling bee moves into final day
''USA Today''
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.
[Theobald, Bill (25 May 2016)]
251 spellers survive in Scripps National Spelling Bee
''USA Today'' 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.
[Theobald, Bill (26 May 2016)]
171 survive in National Spelling Bee, but only 45 advance
''USA Today''[Finalists (2016)](_blank)
spellingbee.com, Retrieved 26 May 2016
The final rounds were held on May 26, beginning with the 45 finalists.
[(18 May 2016)]
‘SportsCenter’ anchor Kevin Negandhi to host finals of Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN
''American Bazaar'' After round 4, only 21 spellers were left,
and after round 7 there were 10.
[Official Tweet](_blank)
@scrippsbee ("Rd 7 ends w/10 #SpellingBee finalists! Watch LIVE on @espn @ 8PM! ...)
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.
[Tumlty, Brian (27 May 2016)]
Painted Post seventh-grader Jairam Hathwar is national bee co-champion
''Democrat and Chronicle
The ''Democrat and Chronicle'' is a daily newspaper serving the greater Rochester, New York, area. At 245 East Main Street in downtown Rochester, the ''Democrat and Chronicle'' operates under the ownership of Gannett. The paper's production fa ...
''
Co-champion Nihar Janga, at age 11, was the first winner
since 2002 to win in his first appearance at the national bee.
[Nuckols, Ben (28 May 2016)]
National Spelling Bee co-champions include youngest ever
''Associated Press'' Jairam Hathwar became the second sibling of a past champion (his brother Sriram Hathwar was co-champion in 2014) to win the competition.
[Associated Press (27 May 201]
"ESPN"
Thirteen-year old Snehaa Ganesh Kumar of
Folsom, California
Folsom is a city in Sacramento County, California, United States. It is commonly known for Folsom State Prison, the song "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash, as well as for Folsom Lake. The population was 80,454 at the 2020 census.
Folsom is pa ...
placed third, falling on "usucapion" in the 16th round, the first championship round.
[Nuckols, Ben (27 May 2016)]
National Spelling Bee ends in its unlikeliest tie to date
''Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American non-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association. It produces news reports that are distributed to its members, U.S. newspa ...
''[Musal, Steve (27 May 2016)]
California teen Snehaa Ganesh Kumar takes third in Spelling Bee
''MedillDC'' Sylvie Lamontagne of
Lakewood, Colorado
The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in Col ...
, also 13, placed fourth, missing "chaoborine" in the 15th round.
The final four outlasted all other competitors by a full four rounds. Other finalists, in order, included Smrithi Upadhyayula, Rutvik Gandhasri, Cooper Komatsu, Sreeniketh Vogoti, Mitchell Robson, and Jashun Paluru.
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.
[Mele, Christopher (22 April 2016)]
Harder Words Await Competitors at National Spelling Bee
''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
''
The first place prize this year was increased to $40,000 from $30,000, second to $30,000 and third to $20,000.
Word list championship round
References
{{Scripps National Spelling Bee
Scripps National Spelling Bee competitions
2016 in Maryland
2016 in education
May 2016 events in the United States
Oxon Hill, Maryland