Girl, 12, Wins National Spelling Bee With 'Marocain'

Ananya Vinay is the first sole winner since 2013
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 2, 2017 12:34 AM CDT
Spelling Bee Has Sole Winner for First Time Since 2013
Ananya Vinay, 12, from Fresno, Calif., holds the trophy after being declared the winner of the 90th Scripps National Spelling Bee, in Oxon Hill, Md., Thursday, June 1, 2017.   (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

For Ananya Vinay, the road to victory ran through heiligenschein, Tchefuncte, zeaxanthin, and cecidomyia. The 12-year-old from Fresno, Calif., won the 90th annual Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night when she correctly spelled "marocain," a French-derived word for a dress fabric, after runner-up Rohan Rajeev stumbled on "marram," a Scandinavian word for a beach grass, the Guardian reports.

After three years of ties, Ananya is the competition's first sole winner since 2013, the AP reports. A written tie-breaker question had been prepared to make sure there was a single winner this year, but judges didn't need to use it. (This year's bee featured the youngest-ever competitor.)

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