An eighth grader from Corona advanced to the fifth round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee Wednesday by correctly spelling procellous, an adjective meaning stormy.
Avijeet Randhawa was among the 148 spellers advancing to the quarterfinals from the original field of 245, the largest since 2019, by correctly spelling two words and answering a vocabulary question.
Avijeet Randhawa advanced to the quarterfinals by correctly spelling palynological, an adjective related to a branch of science dealing with pollen and spores, in Tuesday’s third round at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.
The Auburndale Intermediate School student began the bee by correctly spelling raclette, a Swiss dish of melted cheese, typically eaten with potatoes. He then chose the correct answer to the vocabulary question, “What is a moratorium?” by selecting “a delay officially set by some authority.”
There were 54 spellers eliminated in the first round, 15 in the second and 28 in the third.
Wednesday’s quarterfinals will be streamed until their expected completion at 10 a.m. Pacific Daylight Time on ION Plus, Bounce XL, Grit Xtra, Laff More and spellingbee.com.
The semifinals will be broadcast from 5 to 7 p.m. on ION, whose owned-and-operated station in the Los Angeles market, which includes Riverside County, is KPXN-TV Channel 30. The network is also carried by many streaming platforms.
Avijeet reached last year’s semifinals. He was eliminated in the eighth round and was among nine spellers tying for 12th. The 11 spellers who correctly spelled their eighth-round words advanced to the finals.
Avijeet qualified for the national bee by winning the Riverside County Spelling Bee in March, correctly spelling crescendo as the final word.
This is the eighth and final time a member of the Randhawa family is competing in the national bee. A member of the Randhawa family has won all eight county bees since 2016. The 2020 bee was canceled because of the coronavirus pandemic.
Avijeet’s sister Aisha competed in the national bee from 2016-19, with her best finish coming in 2018 when she tied for seventh. His sister Lara was among 10 spellers tying for 13th in 2022 and reached the quarterfinals in 2021.
Avijeet enjoys playing the video game Minecraft, pickleball, drums and guitar and building large Lego structures. In his free time, he often plays basketball and goes on brief walks. He likes to watch animals as they explore and live their lives.
The bee is limited to students in eighth grade or below who were born Sept. 1, 2008 or later. Contestants for the 96th edition of the national bee range in age from 8 to 15.
The bee will conclude Thursday. The winner will receive $50,000 from the Scripps National Spelling Bee, $2,500 and a reference library from the dictionary publisher Merriam-Webster, $400 in reference works from Encyclopedia Britannica and a three-year membership to Britannica Online Premium and a $350 prize package from SugarBee Apple, including a SugarBee Apple gift basket and $250 gift card.
No contestant from Riverside County has won the bee.