Vandana Isabelle Ravikumar, 12, a student of Bethlehem Lutheran School, placed second in the Nevada State Spelling Bee in Las Vegas on March 20.
Students from 33 middle schools across the state competed. Ravikumar spelled words such as novillero, recidivist, pizzicata, alliteration, chirospasm and geochrony.
There were 18 rounds before Dakota Jones of Hyde Park Middle School spelled dandiacal to emerge the winner.