Eight Kids Crowned Co-Champions Of Scripps National Spelling Bee

As the Scripps National Spelling Bee stretched into the early hours of Friday (May 31) morning, there were still eight kids left standing and the judges were unable to stump any of them. The group of kids, who are between 12 and 14 years old, managed to complete five perfect rounds, spelling 47 words correctly.

"Champion spellers, we are now in uncharted territory," the Spelling Bee's pronouncer, Jacques Bailly told the kids after their second consecutive perfect round. "We do have plenty of words remaining on our list. But we will soon run out of words that will possibly challenge you, the most phenomenal collection of super spellers in the history of this competition."

After all eight kids went three more rounds without making a mistake, officials decided it was time to end the event and crowned all eight of them as champions. Each winner will receive $50,000 and their own trophy. The newly crowned champions were exhausted after the marathon three-day event and glad that it was finally over.

"I feel like there was no better way to do it," said Saketh Sundar, who lives in Clarksville, Maryland. "I don't know if I would've won if they kept going. I was super tired because it was like 12:00, and I was exhausted."

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