NC teen makes her way to the final three of the National Spelling Bee

A Wake County teen’s impressive bid to be crowned the nation’s top speller ended Thursday night when she tried to spell “murrina.”

Ananya Rao Prassanna, 13, of Cary, spelled it “marina” for a disease carried by Central American horses and mules.

Prassanna walked away from the nationally televised finals finishing in a tie for third place in a field that started this week with 245 spellers.

Prassanna achieved the highest finish for a North Carolina speller since Sreethan Gajula of Union County finished in 7th place in the 2021 Spelling Bee. No North Carolinian has won the Spelling Bee since 1970.

Spelling miracle

Prassanna has been a spelling prodigy for years. The seventh-grader from Davis Drive Middle School in Cary qualified for her first National Spelling Bee in 2022 while she was in an elementary school in Nebraska. She finished in 49th place that year.

Prassanna moved to North Carolina after her family moved due to her father’s job. Her father, Prassanna Rao Rajgopal, says they chose Davis Drive Middle in part because of the school’s strong support for the Spelling Bee program.

Michael Hokenberg, the principal of Davis Drive Middle, traveled to National Harbor, Maryland this week to cheer on his student.

“Great to see all the smiles after years of hard work!” Hokenberg posted this on X, formerly Twitter, on Wednesday. “The @DDMSBuzz and @wcpss communities stand behind you, Ananya.

Last year, Prassanna tied for 74th place.

Winning Spelling Bee Words

Prassanna’s experience paid off this year as she spelled words like “réclame”, “conyrine” and “rusa” to advance to the preliminary rounds, quarter-finals and semi-finals.

She was among the “elite eight” spellers who qualified for the final on Thursday.

• In round 9, the opening round of the final, she pinned morbilliformwhich resembles the outbreak of measles.

• In round 10, she answered the vocabulary question for the word correctly velocipedemeaning a lightweight wheeled vehicle is powered by the rider.

• in round 11, Prassanna was spelled correctly salinity, meaning that the feet or legs are adapted for jumping.

• In round 12 she spelled correctly martabana large green glazed earthenware pot, originally made in Lower Burma.

• In round 13 she spelled Tennessee, these are coins of a currency from Turkmenistan.

Next year she will have the opportunity to appear in her fourth National Spelling Bee.