San Ramon Native Takes 2nd Place In Scripps Spelling Bee

SAN RAMON, CA — A San Ramon native took second place in the 93rd Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Chaitra Thummala, 12, of Frisco, Texas, represented the Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee and won a $30,000 prize, according to Scripps. This year's bee was held at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, Florida.

She qualified for the national bee after correctly spelling "engobe," a material used while making pottery, in the Bay Area competition.

Chaitra breezed past words such as "fewtrils," "thanatophidia," "steganopodous" and "Chalcolithic" before missing a vowel on her 17th word, "neroli oil." Neroli oil is an essential oil made from bitter orange blossom.

Chaitra came in just behind Zaila Avant-garde, 14, of Harvey, Louisiana, according to Scripps. Zaila made history as the bee's first Black winner after she correctly spelled "Murraya," a genus of tropical trees.

Zaila will receive a combined $52,500 in cash prizes, plus a trophy, medal, Merriam-Webster reference library and $400 in Encyclopædia Britannica reference works for her victory.

"The excellence of all of our competitors, their hard work and commitment to learning, and their distinct stories, capture hearts and minds across the globe,” said Adam Symson, president and CEO of The E.W. Scripps Company, in a statement. “We take great pride in the way the Scripps National Spelling Bee, like so many of its spellers, adapted through difficult circumstances over the last year to safely bring back America’s favorite and longest-running educational competition.”