2010 National Spelling Bee: Anamika Veeramani Won With “Stromuhr”

The 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee was held from June 2, 2010 to June 4, 2010 at Grand Hyatt Hotel, Washington D.C. A total of 274 spellers participated in the competition, 110 for the first time. The youngest contestant was 8-year-old Vanya Shivashankar, the sister of 2009 winner Kavya Shivashankar.

In the largest field in the history of the competition, the spellers ranged in age from 8 to 15 years old, but 80% were between 12 and 14.
This year has already held one shocker. The 2009 second place finisher, Tim Ruiter, was eliminated in round four. He had been considered the favorite to win the 2010 competition.

At the beginning of the Friday night championship finals, the following ten spellers remained:
Laura Newcombe, 11, a Toronto, Canada 7th grader. She tied for 17th place in 2009 at the age of 10. She missed confiserie and tied for 5th place.
Adrian Gunawan, 14, an Arlington Heights, Illinois 8th grader. He missed terribilita and tied for 2nd place.

Lanson Tang, 14, a Potomac, Maryland 8th grader. He missed leishmanic and tied for 5th place.

Elizabeth Platz, 13, a Shelbina, Missouri 8th grader. She missed rhytidome and tied for 2nd place.
Shantanu Srivatsa, 13, a West Fargo, North Dakota 8th grader. He missed ochidore and tied for 2nd place.
Joanna Ye, 13, a Carlisle, Pennsylvania 7th grader. She missed on tailleur and tied for 5th place.
Julianna Canabal-Rodriguez, 13, a Mayaguez, Puerto Rico 7th grader. She missed gyokero and tied for 9th place.

Aditya Chemudupaty, 13, a Pearland, Texas 8th grader. He tied for 12th place in 2009. He missed on engysseismology and tied for 9th place.

Andrew Grose, 13, a Sheboygan, Wisconsin 8th grader. He missed aguinaldo and tied for 5th place.

Anamika Veeramani, 14, a North Royalton, Ohio 8th grader. She tied for 5th place in 2009. She spelled juvia correctly and to win the competition she correctly spelled stromuhr.

Juvia definition: a Brazilian name for the lofty tree which produces Brazil nuts. Stromuhr definition: a rheometer designed to measure the amount and speed of blood flow through an artery.
Anamika aspires to become a cardiovascular surgeon, an author and a screenwriter. She has played the violin for six years and is a member of her school orchestra. She is the 2010 Scripps National Spelling Bee 2010 winner. Besides a trophy and bragging rights, she won a cash prize of $30,000, a $2,500 savings bond, and $2,700 in reference books from Encyclopedia Britannica.
The championship finals aired live on ABC Friday evening.