Long Island Girl Places Third In Scripps National Spelling Bee

PLAINVIEW, NY — Long Island's own Bhavana Madini competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals on Thursday, where she placed third overall.

Madini made it to round 14 out of 18 before she was eliminated. She misspelled the word "athanor," which is a type of furnace used by chemists. Madini had put on a very strong showing, though. She competed in the finals in 2019, where she placed 51st.

She managed to spell words like "theodolite" and "phylloxera," and define words like "tergiversate" and "aphyllous."

As the third-place finisher, Madini won a $15,000 prize.

In addition to the money, Madini has one other thing to look forward to: she made a bet with her mother that if she finished in the top five, she would get a puppy.