Best Speller

Nihar Janga

Bravo to 11-year-old Nihar Janga from River Ridge Elementary School for becoming the youngest student to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. It was a tense few moments last May as the ESPN cameras zoomed in on the final two competitors, Janga and Jairam Hathwar, 13, of New York. After the word warriors stumbled twice, they both correctly spelled their next words to be declared co-champions. “I’m speechless,” Nihar said of the win. “I’m only in the fifth grade.”