AUSTIN (KXAN) — Twenty Texans buzzed their way into qualifying for this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, with 15 advancing to the quarter finals rounds Wednesday. The competition runs through Thursday evening, with a winner poised to be crowned around 9 p.m. CT.
The 20 qualifiers from Texas included the following students:
Sariah Titus: 11-year-old sixth grader from Abilene
Jayden Zheng: 14-year-old eighth grader from Amarillo
Tarini Nandakumar: 13-year-old seventh grader from Austin
Anthony Reyes: 14-year-old eighth grader from Corpus Christi
Faizan Zaki: 12-year-old sixth grader from Dallas
Sriya Gomatam: 14-year-old eighth grader from Dallas
Chioma Egbuonu: 14-year-old eighth grader from El Paso
Tanya Kadaru: 13-year-old eighth grader from Fort Worth
Ishika Varipilli: 13-year-old eighth grader from Houston
Kirsten Tiffany Santos: 13-year-old eighth grader from Houston
Vir Lagad: 11-year-old fifth grader from Houston
Alejandro Martinez: 13-year-old seventh grader from Laredo
Michael Tesfaye: 13-year-old seventh grader from Lubbock
Caleb Giuoco: 13-year-old seventh grader from McAllen
Shreeya Sivakumar: 13-year-old seventh grader from Midland
Jaynard Quiray: 11-year-old fifth grader from Odessa
Kooper Mikeska: 11-year-old sixth grader from San Angelo
Siyonamithra Kandala: 12-year-old sixth grader from San Antonio
Lucas Lee: 13-year-old eighth grader from Victoria
Aarav Sargurunathan: 12-year-old seventh grader from Waco
The quarter-finals round began at 7 a.m. CT and runs through 12 p.m. CT Wednesday. Texans competing for a semifinalist slot are:
Jayden Zheng, Amarillo
Tarini Nandakumar, Austin
Faizan Zaki, Dallas
Sriya Gomatam, Dallas
Chioma Egbuonu, El Paso
Tanya Kadaru, Fort Worth
Ishika Varipilli, Houston
Kirsten Tiffany Santos, Houston
Vir Lagad, Houston
Alejandro Martinez, Laredo
Caleb Giuoco, McAllen
Shreeya Sivakumar, Midland
Lucas Lee, Victoria
The semi-finals will continue Wednesday evening, running from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT.
More details on this year’s competition, including how to watch, are available online.
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