89th 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]

89th Scripps National Spelling Bee
DateMay 24–26, 2016
LocationGaylord National Resort & Convention Center, National Harbor, Maryland
WinnerJairam Hathwar
Nihar Janga
(co-winners)
Age13 (Hathwar)
11 (Janga)
ResidencePainted Post, New York (Hathwar)
Austin, Texas (Janga)
SponsorCorning Rotary Club (Hathwar)[1]
Houston Public Media (Janga)[2][3]
Sponsor locationCorning, New York (Hathwar)
Houston, Texas (Janga)
Winning wordFeldenkrais (Hathwar)
gesellschaft (Janga)
No. of contestants284
PronouncerJacques Bailly
Preceded by88th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Followed by90th Scripps National Spelling Bee

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 Ganesh Kumar of Folsom, California placed third, falling on "usucapion" in the 16th round, the first championship round.[17][18] Sylvie Lamontagne of Lakewood, Colorado, also 13, placed fourth, missing "chaoborine" in the 15th round.[15] 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.[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
  1. (10 March 2016). Hathwar wins another trip to Scripps, The Leader (Corning)
  2. (26 May 2016). Leander ISD student, 11, named co-champion in National Spelling Bee, Austin American-Statesman
  3. Levin, Matt (26 May 2016). Texas 11-year-old Nihar Janga crowned co-champ at national spelling bee, Houston Chronicle
  4. When is the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Archived 2012-11-23 at the Wayback Machine, spellingbee.com, Retrieved 4 March 2016
  5. Porter, Toriano (4 March 2016). Spelling bee champ upholds family tradition, Lee's Summit Journal
  6. (19 May 2016). The nation readies for the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee, WRTV
  7. Theobald, Bill (26 May 2016). 171 survive in National Spelling Bee, but only 45 advance, USA Today
  8. (26 May 2016). National spelling bee moves into final day, USA Today
  9. Theobald, Bill (25 May 2016). 251 spellers survive in Scripps National Spelling Bee, USA Today
  10. Finalists (2016), spellingbee.com, Retrieved 26 May 2016
  11. (18 May 2016). ‘SportsCenter’ anchor Kevin Negandhi to host finals of Scripps National Spelling Bee on ESPN, American Bazaar
  12. Official Tweet, @scrippsbee ("Rd 7 ends w/10 #SpellingBee finalists! Watch LIVE on @espn @ 8PM! ...)
  13. Farrington, Dana (26 May 2016). Another Year, Another Impasse As 2 Win Scripps National Spelling Bee, The Two-Way, NPR, retrieved 26 May 2016
  14. Tumlty, Brian (27 May 2016). Painted Post seventh-grader Jairam Hathwar is national bee co-champion, Democrat and Chronicle
  15. Nuckols, Ben (28 May 2016). National Spelling Bee co-champions include youngest ever, Associated Press
  16. Associated Press (27 May 2016), "ESPN"
  17. Nuckols, Ben (27 May 2016). National Spelling Bee ends in its unlikeliest tie to date, Associated Press
  18. Musal, Steve (27 May 2016). California teen Snehaa Ganesh Kumar takes third in Spelling Bee, MedillDC
  19. Mele, Christopher (22 April 2016). Harder Words Await Competitors at National Spelling Bee, The New York Times
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