After winning the 34th annual Lincoln Public Schools spelling bee, Rikhil Jasti discusses his goals and plans for the future.
For two-time spelling bee champ Rikhil Jasti, the word of the day is "ducats."
That word, describing gold coins used in Europe during the Middle Ages, is what propelled the Moore Middle School eighth grader to victory in the 34th annual Lincoln Public Schools Oral Spelling Bee on Saturday morning.
Jasti was also the champion in 2020. He said he was disappointed when the 2021 bee was canceled because of COVID-19 concerns, but was glad to defend his title this weekend.
"For me there's a lot of pressure to win again," Jasti said. "A lot of people put expectations on me, and I'm just glad I could achieve them and make my followers proud."
The 13-year-old advances to the Omaha Sports Commission Spelling Bee on Feb. 26. If he wins that competition, he'll advance to the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Jasti said winning Scripps is his ultimate goal, and he's excited to finally have his shot in the bigger competitions after two years of pandemic postponements — COVID-19 also led officials to cancel the regional competition in 2020.
Saturday's runner-up was another familiar face: Irving Middle School eighth grader Jeffrey Ogbonnaya, who also finished second in the 2020 competition.
Runner-up Jeffrey Ogbonnaya spells out a word during the Lincoln Public Schools spelling bee at Culler Middle School on Saturday.
JAIDEN TRIPI, Journal Star
There were 16 LPS students from grades 6-8 in Saturday's bee at Culler Middle School. They were asked to spell words such as "fetlocks," "larkspur," "fractious" and "primordial."
Sixth grade speller Libby Wilson, who attends Irving, said she was nervous to make her spelling bee debut. But that didn't stop her from earning third place.
"I kinda went numb when I came here," the 11-year-old said.
Wilson said she was surprised and proud of herself for remembering how to spell such a tricky list.
Several LPS employees judged and volunteered at the competition. The event was sponsored by the Lincoln Journal Star and hosted by LPS secondary ELA curriculum specialist Mindy Murphy. Murphy acted as the emcee and presented certificates to participants and medals to the winners.
Murphy said she is a believer in the importance of spelling bees such as this one.
"Every year we get more and more excited for the kids because the words get harder and harder, and the kids keep rising to the task," she said.
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