Culver City Middle School Student Advances To Scripps National Spelling Bee Finals

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — A Culver City Middle School eighth-grader was one of 10 students to advance Thursday to the final round of the 89th Scripps National Spelling Bee in National Harbor, Maryland.

Cooper Komatsu correctly spelled cacomixle, a catlike mammal found in southern North America that is related to, but smaller than, a raccoon; buccal, of or relating to the mouth or cheek; and rerebrace, a piece of armor designed to protect the upper arm above the elbow to move on to the final round.

Corona fifth-grader Aisha K. Randhawa was also competing in the national competition, but was eliminated in the fourth round out of an initial field of 285.

Aisha, a Garretson Elementary School student, misspelled bouleuterion -- a council chamber in ancient Greece -- omitting the 'o' between the 'b' and the 'u' and the 'e' between the 'l' and the 'u.'

Thirteen-year-old Cooper also competed in last year's bee, correctly spelling both of his semifinal words, but did not score high enough on two multiple-choice spelling and vocabulary tests to be among the 10 spellers to qualify for the championship finals.

The bee is limited to students in eighth grade or below, with contestants ranging in age from 6 to 15 years old.

The winner will receive $40,000 from Scripps, which owns television stations, cable networks and newspapers; a $2,500 U.S. savings bond and a complete reference library from the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster; and $400 in reference works from Encyclopaedia Britannica and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium.

The bee ended in a tie for the third consecutive year Thursday night, with Jairam Hathwar and Nihar Janga declared co-champions after a roller-coaster finish.

Thirteen-year-old Jairam is the younger brother of the 2014 co-champion, Sriram Hathwar. Nihar, at age 11, is the youngest winner of the bee on record.

"I'm just speechless. I can't say anything," Nihar said as he hoisted the trophy. "I mean, I'm only in fifth grade!"

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