FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — Eighth-grader Victor Xiao will represent Marion County in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on May 25 to 31 in Washington, D.C.
Xiao, a Park Tudor Middle School student, placed first in the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on Wednesday night, winning in the 60th round by correctly spelling the word “flippant.”
In addition to an expenses-paid trip to the national competition, Xiao earned a Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary.
The top three spellers each received a trophy. Kalysta Lee, an eighth-grader at St. Simon the Apostle School, won second place; sixth-grader Larisa Tuttle of Tuttle Homeschool placed third.
Veteran WIBC News and Network Indiana reporter Eric Berman was the pronouncer for the event, which was open to the public.
WRTV Channel 6 broadcast the contest live and posted the entire spelling bee online.
Kroger, IUPUI and the Rotary Club of Indianapolis sponsored the event held in the IUPUI Campus Center Theatre.