84th Scripps National Spelling Bee
Encyclopedia
The 84th Scripps National Spelling Bee
was held from May 31 - June 2, 2011 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
in Oxon Hill, Maryland
near Washington, D.C.
. The champion was 14-year-old Sukanya Roy, who was the fourth consecutive person of Indian-American descent to win the competition.
Scripps National Spelling Bee
The Scripps National Spelling Bee is a highly competitive annual spelling bee in the United States, with participants from other countries as well. It is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W...
was held from May 31 - June 2, 2011 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center
The Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center is a large hotel and convention center located in National Harbor, Maryland and owned by Gaylord Hotels, a division of Gaylord Entertainment Company...
in Oxon Hill, Maryland
Oxon Hill, Maryland
Oxon Hill is part of the Oxon Hill-Glassmanor census-designated place in southern Prince George's County, Maryland, United States. Oxon Hill is a suburb of Washington, DC located southeast of the downtown district and east of Alexandria, Virginia...
near Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The champion was 14-year-old Sukanya Roy, who was the fourth consecutive person of Indian-American descent to win the competition.
Competition statistics
- 275 spellers participated in this year's competition, representing the United States, American Samoa, the Bahamas, Canada, China, Europe (DoDDSDoddsDodds may refer to:*Dodds, Ohio, a US unincorporated place*Dodds Township, Jefferson County, Illinois, US*DoDDS *Dodds , people with the surname Dodds...
schools only), Ghana, Guam, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. - Canada was able to send three spellers to this Bee instead of one; Laura Newcombe, Veronica Penny, and Graham Abraham.
- The competition lasted twenty rounds before the winner was announced.
- The spellers' ages ranged from 8 to 15 years old, the youngest being Ethan Ruggeri from Virginia.
- Two championship finalists from 2010 returned to participate in this Bee; Joanna Ye of Pennsylvania and Laura Newcombe of Ontario, Canada.
- This year was the seventh time the champion has come from Pennsylvania.
- This was the fourth year in a row and ninth time since 1999 that the champion has been of Indian-American descent.
- During the last rounds of the final five spellers, 20 words were spelled correctly. This is the equivalent of 4 full competition rounds with no incorrectly spelled words.
- This year, the Bee also lasted approximately 3 full hours, 1.5 hours more than the originally scheduled length.
Top finishers
- Sukanya Roy, of South Abington Township, Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, representing the Times Leader of Wilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre, PennsylvaniaWilkes-Barre is a city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, the county seat of Luzerne County. It is at the center of the Wyoming Valley area and is one of the principal cities in the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre metropolitan area, which had a population of 563,631 as of the 2010 Census...
, won the competition by spelling cymotrichous. - Laura Newcombe, of TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario, was the runner-up. She was eliminated by the word sorites as psorites. - Joanna Ye, of Carlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle, PennsylvaniaCarlisle is a borough in and the county seat of Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The name is traditionally pronounced with emphasis on the second syllable. Carlisle is located within the Cumberland Valley, a highly productive agricultural region. As of the 2010 census, the borough...
, and Arvind Mahankali, of Forest Hills, New York, tied for third place. Ye was eliminated by the word galoubet as galubey. , while Mahankali misspelled jugendstil as uguntschtiel. - Dakota Jones, of Las Vegas, Nevada, placed fifth; he was eliminated by the word zanja, spelling it as zangha.
- Veronica Penny, of Rockland, OntarioRockland, OntarioRockland is a bilingual community located about east of downtown Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Clarence–Rockland. Rockland has a population of 9,210.-History:...
, Dhivya Senthil Murugan, of Denver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoThe City and County of Denver is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains...
, Sriram Hathwar, of Painted Post, New YorkPainted Post, New YorkPainted Post is a village in Steuben County, New York, United States. The village is in the town of Erwin, west of the city of Corning. The population was 1,842 at the 2000 census. The name comes from a painted and carved post found by explorers at the junction of three local rivers...
, and Mashad Arora of Brownsville, TexasBrownsville, TexasBrownsville is a city in the southernmost tip of the state of Texas, in the United States. It is located on the northern bank of the Rio Grande, directly north and across the border from Matamoros, Tamaulipas, Mexico. Brownsville is the 16th largest city in the state of Texas with a population of...
, tied for sixth place. - Lily Jordan, of Cape Elizabeth, MaineCape Elizabeth, MaineCape Elizabeth is a town in Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland–South Portland–Biddeford, Maine metropolitan statistical area...
, Nabeel Rahman, of Buffalo, New YorkBuffalo, New YorkBuffalo is the second most populous city in the state of New York, after New York City. Located in Western New York on the eastern shores of Lake Erie and at the head of the Niagara River across from Fort Erie, Ontario, Buffalo is the seat of Erie County and the principal city of the...
, and Prakash Mishra, of Waxhaw, North CarolinaWaxhaw, North CarolinaWaxhaw is a town located in Union County, North Carolina. The population was 2,627 at the 2000 Census.-Geography:Waxhaw is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of , all of it land...
, tied for tenth place. - Samuel Estep, of Berryville, VirginiaBerryville, VirginiaBerryville is an incorporated town in and the county seat of Clarke County, Virginia, United States. The population was 2,963 at the 2000 census.-Geography:...
, placed thirteenth.