PLAINVIEW, NY (TIP): Long Island‘s Bhavana Madini competed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals on Thursday, July 8, where she was placed third overall.
Bhavana made it to round 14 out of 18 before she was eliminated. She misspelled the word “athanor,” which is a type of furnace used by chemists. Madini had put on a very strong showing, though. She competed in the finals in 2019, where she was placed 51st.
She managed to spell words like “theodolite” and “phylloxera,” and define words like “tergiversate” and “aphyllous.” As the third-place finisher, Madini won a $15,000 prize.