Shrey Parkih will be starting a new school next year, but some classmates there may have seen him on TV.
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After four days of grueling competition, Shrey — an eighth grader at Day Creek Intermediate School in Rancho Cucamonga — walked away with the trophy at the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
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In his third appearance in the national contest, Shrey racked up 32 correctly spelled words in 90 seconds. That feat set a record in the shootout-style spell-off finish first used in 2022.
The spell-off moves so fast that it’s tough to tell which word secures the title, but Scripps later announced that “bromocriptine” — a polypeptide alkaloid that mimics the activity of dopamine — was the winning word.
“I was just really excited and relieved at my win,” Shrey said in a Friday, May 29, phone interview. “It was just, um, a big mix of emotions and I was so glad.”
As the bee champ, Shrey won $52,500 cash, a custom trophy and a package of prizes.
It was his third and last time in the national contest. He tied for third place in 2024 and, as a fourth grader in 2022, tied for 89th place.
Shrey earned admiration from a national audience and his local bee official.
“First of all, it’s an awesome recognition for Shrey,” said Nick Zajicek, principal at David W. Long Elementary School in Fontana and the spelling bee coordinator for the Etiwanda School District in San Bernardino County. “He’s the one that put in the hard work, but it’s a really awesome recognition for our district as well.”
The victory is a testament to Etiwanda’s students, families and teachers, Zajicek said.
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Shrey is the first student in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside or San Bernardino counties to take home the award, City News Service reported.
Shrey’s mother, Dr. Khyati Mehta, who specializes in pediatric gastroenterology at Loma Linda University Health, said she and her family are thrilled for her son and grateful to the district and his teachers for recognizing his spelling talent so early.
“As a mom, I feel that he has arrived, and, you know, this is his moment,” she said. “… I have a lot of gratitude for everyone who has supported us in the journey.”
On Friday, the family remained in Washington D.C. celebrating the win and planned to attend a banquet in honor of the spellers and their families at night at the Smithsonian Institution. Shrey is expected to give a speech there.
Three other students joined Shrey in the semi finals of the competition. Fellow Day Creek student and seventh grader Abheri Sureddi was knocked out in the first round of the semifinals.
Abheri tied for 30th place after incorrectly spelling a word in Round 7.
Riverside County student Victoria Li, a seventh grader from Dr. Augustine Ramirez Intermediate School in Eastvale, tied for 10th in the semifinals’ last round.
Oliver Halkett, an eighth-grader from Silver Lake in Los Angeles County finished in a four-way tie for sixth Thursday. The bee ran from Tuesday, May 26, through Thursday, May 28, in Washington, D.C.
As he enters high school, Shrey said he plans to focus more on math competitions and his tennis game.
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City News Service and the Associated Press contributed to this report.