NATIONAL HARBOR, Maryland – The 90th year of the Scripps National Spelling Bee is underway, and two Houstonians are gearing up to show off their skills.
[TAKE THE SPELLING TEST TO SEE IF YOU'D QUALIFY!]
Raksheet Kota,14, of Katy, and Shourav Dasari,14, from Spring, are competing in the spelling bee finals.
Since 1925 there have been 11 spelling bee champions from Texas, making Texas the state with the most winners in the U.S.
1942: Richard Earnhart, El Paso
1962: Nettie Crawford, El Paso
1966: Robert A. Wake, Houston
1969: Susan Yoachum, Dallas
1972: Robin Kral, Lubbock
1973: Barrie Trinkle, Fort Worth
1981: Paige Pipkin, El Paso
1983: Blake Giddens, El Paso
2003: Sai R. Gunturi, Dallas
2014: Ansun Sujoe, Fort Worth
2016: Nihar Janga, Houston
Houston's two speller's will be among the 15 competitors who will take part in the prime time event Thursday from 7:30 - 9:30 CST. on ESPN.
Dasara's sister, competed in the 2014 National Spelling Bee. Check out a feature about her at the time.