Scripps Spelling Bee 2018: Meet The Virginia Spellers

NATIONAL HARBOR, MD —More than 500 spellers will take part in 2018’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, which officially kicked off Tuesday in Maryland. Of the 519 participants taking part in the annual competition, 26 are from Virginia and one is from the Washington, D.C.

The preliminary rounds take place Tuesday and Wednesday and the finals will be held on Thursday, May 31. On Tuesday and Wednesday, you can watch the Bee on ESPN 3. For the finals, tune into ESPN 2 from 10 a.m. - 2p.m. eastern for Part 1 and for Part 2, tune into ESPN at 8:30 p.m eastern.

The preliminaries consist of a multiple choice test and two rounds of spelling onstage, known as round 2 and round 3 respectively, Scripps explains. Spellers are eliminated for spelling incorrectly in either of the onstage rounds. After rounds 2 and 3, no more than 50 spellers head to the finals. (Read the full competition rules here.)

Here are the Virginia spellers taking part in the competition:

• Anoushka Upadhye, Ashburn, Loudoun County Public Schools
• Jenna Ng, Lynchburg, The News & Advance
• Isabelle Aujla, Roanoke, Virginia, The Roanoke Times
• Sarah Roberts, Hampton, Home School
• Mary Elizabeth Vaughan, Harrisonburg, Thomas Harrison Middle School
• Finn Irving, Waynesboro, The Daily Progress and News Virginian in Charlottesville
• Samantha Ho, Fredericksburg, The Free Lance-Star
• Deeya Patel, Harrisonburg, Rockingham District Ruritans
• Haylie Brimhall, Montclair, Herbert J. Saunders Middle School in Manassas
• Nikitha Prabhu, Lynchburg, James River Day School
• Eric Kim, Annandale, Fairfax County Council of PTAs
• Simran Patibanda, Woodbridge, InsideNoVa/Prince William
• Luke Lerner, Virginia Beach, Great Neck Middle School
• Vishal Vinjamuri, Ashburn, Farmwell Station Middle School
• Tina Huang, North Tazewell, Four Seasons YMCA
• Ryan Crawford, South Boston, Big Brothers and Big Sisters in Danville
• Srivarun Hathwar, Virginia Beach, The Virginian-Pilot
• Daniel Fordham, Fredericksburg, Freedom Middle School
• Fetin Hussain, Oakton, Pinnacle Academy
• Joseph Chambers, Henrico, Richmond Times-Dispatch
• Nathan Estep, Berryville, The Kids Clubs of Northern Shenandoah Valley
• Aditya Chezhiyan, Bristow, E.H. Marsteller Middle School
• Elizabeth Safford, Roanoke, Roanoke Catholic School
• Elliott Lee, McLean, Longfellow Middle School
• Sreeram Pillai, Herndon, Carson Middle School
• Anson Cook, Chesapeake, Hugo A. Owens Middle School

Plus one student from Washington, D.C.:

• Simon Kirschenbaum, Washington, D.C., The Washington Informer

(For more news like this, find your local Patch here. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here. And like Patch on Facebook!)

Check back with Patch and we’ll keep you updated with how the Virginia and DC spellers perform.

And if you’re curious about whether you have what it takes to compete in the Bee, you can take the preliminaries test to find out.

PHOTO: Rohan Rajeev, (R) waits to hear if 12 year old Ananya Vinay of Fresno, CA. spell her word 'marocain' correclty to win the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee, at Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center June 1, 2017 in National Harbor, Maryland. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)