The 14-year-old from San Diego spelled guetapens, a French-derived word that means ambush, snare or trap.
View full sizeSnigdha Nandipati, 14, of San Diego, concentrates while spelling in the last round to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.The 14-year-old, from San Diego, spelled guetapens, a French-derived word that means ambush, snare or trap. Calm and collected throughout, she beat out eight other finalists in the nerve-wracking, brain-busting competition.
Nandipati is an avid reader and coin collector who aspires to become a psychiatrist or neurosurgeon. She plays violin and is fluent in Telugu. She's the 5th consecutive Indian-American winner and 10th in the last 14 years.
Stuti Mishra, of West Melbourne, Fla., finished second after misspelling “schwarmerei.”
Prizes for winning the 85th Scripps National Spelling Bee include $30,000 in cash, a trophy, a $2,500 savings bond, a $5,000 scholarship, $2,600 in reference works from the Encyclopedia Britannica and an online language course.