Olathe student gave it her best at the Bee

By Ann Lee, 49 News Washington correspondent

VIDEO:

The word "cilice" spelled defeat for the youngest competitor in the National Spelling Bee.

"And she's done it again!"

"Auslaut, a-u-s-l-a-u-t, auslaut."

With that word, Kavya Shivashankar from Olathe is off to the championship finals tonight.

How does she do it?

"Well, there's not really like a specific amount of time I prepare because I do violin, I play the violin and I do Indian dance and I have a lot of homework in sixth grade so, just have to find time," Kavya said.

And the winner is...

Thirteen-year-old Evan O'Dorney of Danville, California, won the Bee with the word "serrefine", a small clamp used on blood vessels. The eighth grader gets $35,000 in cash, plus $5,000 scholarship.

She even finds time to pass on her spelling skills to her little sister.

"Humuhumukununukuapua'a..."

She's cheering her big sister on, "To first place!"

Aishwarya Pastapur didn't make it to the finals, but she's aiming to come back again next year.

"I was disappointed cause I really wanted to make it to semi-finals and maybe even finals and I was also kind of relieved cause there's no more pressure and I can do whatever I want for these last two days," Aishwarya said.

She's also cheering on her Kansan comrade. Kavya is one of 15 spellers advancing to the finals.

Kavya is only in sixth grade, so the Olathe girl has two more years to go after the National Bee title. For now, we just want to say "Congratulations" on all of her hard work.

Currently in Topeka, KS

KTKA

Breaking news