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.

In a worldly test of on-the-fly smarts, the Scripps National Spelling Bee crowned this year's champ, 14-year-old Karthik Nemmani from McKinney, Texas, who sealed the deal Thursday night by correctly spelling koinonia — "the Christian fellowship or body of believers," according to contest sponsor Merriam-Webster.

The knowledge on display at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland was too much for most adults. Even some computer spellcheckers couldn't keep up with the words.

"These kids would beat the pants off most adults," said linguist Grant Barrett, co-host of nationally syndicated public radio show "A Way With Words."

Karthik Nemmani won the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday night, after correctly spelling the word “koinonia.”

Koinonia means a Christian fellowship or body of believers, according to Merriam-Webster.

The 14-year-old from McKinney, Texas, beat out 516 spellers this year, the highest number of competitors in the bee’s decadeslong history.

After receiving his trophy onstage, the eighth-grader said he felt “really happy.” Karthik added that as soon as he heard the pronouncer say the word “koinonia,” he knew he was going to win.

Karthik’s orthographic prowess won him the competition’s $40,000 cash prize and the opportunity to appear on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, in addition to a handful of other prizes.

Runner-up Naysa Modi, 12, from Frisco, Texas, was eliminated from the final round after she misspelled the word “bewusstseinslage,” meaning a state of consciousness or a feeling devoid of sensory components, according to Merriam-Webster. Naysa tied for seventh place last year, tied for 46th place the year before and tied for 50th place in 2015.

The competition this year was cutthroat. The hundreds of precocious spellers, ranging in age from 8 to 15, stepped out from all 50 states. Moreover, a change in how spellers were invited to this year’s bee drew hundreds more spellers than in past years.

After competing in fierce local rounds, the top spellers convened in National Harbor, Maryland, for the national finals.