National Spelling Bee ends in 8-way tie

ASSOCIATED PRESS
E.W. Scripps CEO Adam Symson, right, presents a trophy to the eight co-champions of the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Oxon Hill, Md. The spelling bee ended in unprecedented 8-way championship tie after organizers ran out of challenging words.
OXON HILL, Md. >> Eight spellers were better than the dictionary. They were better than anything the Scripps National Spelling Bee could throw at them. And they all ended up with a hand on the trophy.
In the most extraordinary ending in the 94-year history of the competition, the bee ended in an eight-way tie tonight. The eight co-champions spelled the final 47 words correctly, going through five consecutive perfect rounds.
Each will get the full winner’s prize of $50,000 in cash.
They are: Rishik Gandhasri, Erin Howard, Saketh Sundar, Shruthika Padhy, Sohum Sukhatankar, Abhijay Kodali, Christopher Serrao and Rojan Raja.