Texan wins spelling bee with ‘koinonia’

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Karthik Nemmani of McKinney, Texas, has been declared champion of the 2018 Scripps National Spelling Bee, winning on the word “koinonia,” a theological term meaning Christian fellowship or communion.

In doing so, the 14-year-old emerged the top speller from a record-breaking 515 contestants at the national bee, compared with 291 last year, after organizers expanded eligibility.

Along the way, he had to outlast a field of 16 finalists who vanquished words such as “Praxitelean,” “ispaghul” and “telyn” in the spelling competition broadcast live on ESPN.

Karthik also continued a longtime trend by becoming the 14th champion or co-champion of South Asian descent the bee has had in 11 consecutive years.

The 16 spellers took the stage Thursday night at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in Maryland to battle it out for the title of champion.

To get to the finals, the competitors had to survive nearly five hours of onstage spelling that started Thursday morning. Bee officials said the plan had been to whittle down the field to about a dozen contestants for the prime-time competition. It would take five rounds of onstage spelling to get to 16, the largest group ever to head into the championship finals.

The 16 finalists ranged in age from 11 to 14 and were made up of nine girls and seven boys. The spellers come from all over the United States, plus one from Canada.

The winner of the bee receives $40,000 and a trophy from the Scripps Bee, a $2,500 cash prize from Merriam-Webster, trips to New York and Hollywood as part of a media tour, and a pizza party for his school.