Shrey Parkih, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Day Creek Intermediate School in Rancho Cucamonga has won the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Parkih rose to the pinnacle of 247 competitors who advanced from regional spelling bees across all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Department of Defense Schools in Europe and Candada. In doing so, Parkih first lasted through the preliminary rounds as the field was narrowed to nine finalists before reducing to five after the 12th round, four after the 14th, and three after the 15th. The final two competitors were Parikh and Ishaan Gupta who matched each other all the way to the 18th round, at which point the two took part in a 90-second spell-off to determine the champion in which Parkih racked up an astounding 32 of 35 correctly spelled words of in a minute-and-a-half for the victory, besting Gupta, who correctly spelled 25 of 29 words.
The spell-off was introduced into the competition in 2022 to settle neck-and-neck finals rounds. Parkih now holds the record for the most words spelled correctly in the abbreviated span.
It was Shrey’s correct spelling of “bromocriptine” — a polypeptide alkaloid that mimics the activity of dopamine — in the spell-off that pushed him ahead of Gupta. Words in the round included “torrone,” a type of Italian nougat candy, as well as “cywyddau,” the plural of cywydd, a Welsh poetic form.
This was his third and last appearance in the national contest. As a fourth grader in 2022, he tied for 89th place. In 2024, he tied for third place.
As the champion, Parkih won $52,500 cash, rivaling the yearly take-home pay of many people twice his age, along with a trophy and a package of prizes, which included a $50,000 cash prize from the Scripps, $2,500 and a reference library from Merriam-Webster, $400 of reference works from Encyclopædia Britannica, and $1,000 in flight credits from Delta Air along with a $1,000 endowment to his school in his name.
Parkih demonstrated his spelling prowess while in the Etiwanda School District early on, and was encouraged by Nick Zajicek, the principal at David W. Long Elementary School in Fontana and the spelling bee coordinator for the Etiwanda School District.
While in the fourth grade at John L. Golden Elementary School in Rancho Cucamonga, he won the San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools Spelling Bee in 2022.
He has used spelling coaches and study guides, and has devoted himself to mastering the roots of words of Greek and Latin phrases that have made it into the English language. He speaks more than one language.
Shrey’s mother, Dr. Khyati Mehta, specializes in pediatric gastroenterology at Loma Linda University Health and his father is Dr. Gaurav Parikh, a cardiologist in Pomona.
Parkih is the 31st of the past 37 champions of Indian descent. There have been 111 champions since the contest was first held in 1925, with cancellations in 1943, 1944, 1945 and during the COVID pandemic. In some years there were co-champions.
One of the words Parkih spelled correctly was “Bhubaneswar”, the capital city of the Indian state of Odisha.
Parkih overcame, a 12-year-old seventh-grader from Jersey City, New Jersey as well as the third place finisher, Sarv Dharavane, a 12-year-old sixth-grader from Dunwoody, Georgia. Other competing this year included 12-year-old Logan Bailey of Houston, Texas; 13-year-old Avisha Dudala of Dallas, Texas; 14-year-old Zwe Spacetime of Washington, D.C.; 13-year-old Kushi Gottimukkala of Charlotte, North Carolina; 14-year-old Oliver Halkett of Los Angeles; 13-year-old Aiden Meng of Danville; 13-year-old Rithi Balajee of Danville; 11-year-old Ishani Dasgupta of Danville; 13-year-old Amrita Singh of Bakersfield; 13-year-old Sreeya Lakimstti of Tucker, Georgia; 13-year-old Hannah kuo of San Bernardino; 11-year-old; 12-year-old Kai Johnson of Sacramento; 12-year-old Victoria Li of Riverside; 11-year-old Ryan Sekera of Sacramento; 10-year-old Hassan Zanoon of Birmigton, Alabama; Abheri Sureddi of Rancho Cucamonga and 10-year-old Sam Smith of West Hartford, Connecticut. And 11-year-old Heron Bothwell of Kalamazoo, Michigan; and 13-year-old Keona-Dannette Osai-Twum of Hackensack, New Jersey 13-year-old Shane Bannon Carrión of San Juan, Puerto Rico; 13-year-old Marian Jenkins of Nashville, Tennessee and 9-year-old Israel Mensah of Fredericksburg, Virginia.
-Mark Gutglueck