8TH-GRADER WINS SPELLING BEE IN 1ST-EVER TIEBREAKER
Harini Logan was eliminated from the Scripps National Spelling Bee once, then reinstated. She missed four words in a grueling standoff against Vikram Raju, including one that would have given her the title.
In the first-ever lightning-round tiebreaker, Harini finally claimed the trophy.
The 13-year-old eighthgrader from San Antonio, who competed in the last fully in-person bee three years ago and endured the pandemic to make it back, spelled 21 words correctly during a 90-second spell-off, beating Vikram by six.
Harini, one of the bestknown spellers entering the bee and a crowd favorite for her poise and positivity, wins more than $50,000 in cash and prizes.
The key moment came during the bee’s much-debated multiple-choice vocabulary
round, when Harini defined the word “pullulation” as the nesting of mating birds. Scripps said the correct answer was the swarming of bees.
But wait!
“We (did) a little deep
dive in that word and actually the answer you gave to that word is considered correct, so we’re going to reinstate you,” head judge Mary Brooks said to Harini.
From there, Harini breezed into the finals against Vikram. They each spelled two words correctly. Then Scripps brought out the toughest words of the night.
Both misspelled. Then Vikram missed again and Harini got “sereh” right, putting her one word away from the title. The word was “drimys,” and she got it wrong.
Two more rounds, two more misspelled words by each, and Scripps brought out the podium and buzzer for the lightning round that all the finalists had practiced for in the mostly empty ballroom hours earlier.
Harini was faster and sharper throughout, and the judges’ final tally confirmed her victory.
The lone San Diego County contestant in the 2022 Scripps National Spelling Bee, Mihir Konkapaka, was eliminated in the third round Tuesday.