Meet the Houston-area students participating in the Scripps National Spelling Bee

Kelsey Thompson and Chad Washington

5 minutes ago

AUSTIN (KXAN) — Twenty Texans — including three from the Houston area — fought their way into qualifying for this year’s Scripps National Spelling Bee, with 15 advancing to the quarterfinals on Wednesday. The competition runs through Thursday evening, with a winner set to be crowned around 9 p.m. CT.

The three in the Houston area, all sponsored by Houston Community College, include:

Ishika Varipilli: 13-year-old eighth grader from Houston

Varipilli is competing in the National Spelling Bee for the third year in a row. Last year, she tied for 23rd place. She represents Tomball ISD while attending Creekside Park High School.

Ishika won the 2024 Regional Spelling Bee and has been regional for the past five years. To win first place, his winning word was: “scrannel”. At the Scripps Regional Spelling Bee, Varipilli competed in eight rounds against 79 competitors.

Her preferred writing style is personal narrative writing.

Vir Lagad: 11-year-old fifth grader from Houston

Lagad attends Wells Elementary School in Cy-Fair ISD and placed third in the Regional Spelling Bee on March 23.

Lagad correctly spelled the word “yagi” in the ninth round to secure a place in the national competition. “Yagi” is a type of directional antenna consisting of two or more parallel antenna elements in an end array.

“It’s been a fun journey so far,” he said. “I am very happy and proud to represent CFISD and Wells at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.”

Lagad won the 2024 CFISD Elementary School Spelling Bee by correctly spelling the word “nucleated” in the ninth round and qualified for the regional contest.

Vir is also a black belt in taekwondo.

Kirsten Tiffany Santos: 13-year-old eighth grader from Richmond

Santos, who attends International Leadership of Texas – Katy Middle School, is making her third consecutive appearance at the National Spelling Bee. She was a runner-up and tied for fifth at the national championships in 2022.

But in 2019, when she was 8 years old, Santos won the National Spanish Spelling Bee, even though Spanish is not her native language.

Kirsten is the first chair violinist in her school orchestra.

The other 17 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
• 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 quarterfinals began at 7:00 a.m. CT and will continue until 12:00 p.m. CT on Wednesday. The Texans competing for a spot in the semifinals 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 semifinals continue Wednesday evening, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. CT.

More details about this year’s competition, including how to watch it, are available online.