Rishik Gandhasri has become the San Francisco Bay Area Regional Spelling Bee champion, Scripps International announced Feb. 17.
Gandhasri, a 7th grader at San Jose, Calif.-based Chaboya Middle School, won the regional title by correctly spelling guanabana, pronounced gwuh-NAH-buh-nuh, in the 14th round of the competition.
In spelling guanabana, a large succulent fruit of a small tropical American tree having short fleshy spines and a slightly acid fibrous pulp, Gandhasri topped Vayun Krisha, a sixth-grade student from Challenger School-Middlefield.
Krisha misspelled occitan to settle for second place in the regional.
For winning the championship, Gandhasri won an expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the Scripps National Spelling Bee this May.