HoCo Speller Competes In National Bee

WASHINGTON, DC — A Howard County student was one of 15 finalists in the Scripps National Spelling Bee broadcast on ESPN Thursday night.

Saketh Sundar, 11, who attends Mayfield Woods Middle School in Elkridge, was up against spellers from all over the country, from Texas to California to New Jersey.

He made his way to the finals by spelling the following words: cunette, dacryocst, definiendum, singultus, surimi and valetudinary, according to WTOP.

The sixth grade student was knocked out of the finals after missing the spelling for "tules," which is a word for rushes growing in wetlands. Saketh spelled it "tullies" and was eliminated, according to Scripps.

Sundar was also a finalist in 2016 but reportedly did not expect such fortune two years in a row.

"...I never expected this to happen," Sundar told NBC, adding: "...this happening is amazing."

He is a fan of Ravens kicker Justin Tucker because of his accuracy and enjoys playing violin and ping-pong, according to his biography on the Scripps site. After high school, Saketh plans to attend Harvard and become a gastroenterologist. His sponsor in the bee is the Howard County Library System. In 2016, he won the library system's spelling bee.

Main image via Shutterstock.