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Two Americans named joint winners of Scripps Spelling Bee, Jamaica's Sara-Beth ties for 39th

Published:Thursday | May 28, 2015 | 12:00 AM
UPI/Pete Marovich
Sara-Beth McPherson, 13, of Kingston, Jamaica, participates in the semifinal round of the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday, May 28, 2015 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Two Americans, Vanya Shivashankar, 13, of Olathe, Kansas, and Gokul Venkatachalam, 14, of Chesterfield, Missouri, have been declared joint winners of this year's National Spelling Bee in Marlyland, United States.

This is the second year in a row that the contest has ended in a tie.

Earlier this afternoon, Jamaica's Sara-Beth McPherson was eliminated in the semis - round five - to tie in 39th place with the other contestants who left the competition at that stage.

Meanwhile, Shivashankar correctly spelled the word 'scherenschnitte' while Venkatachalam correctly spelled 'nunatak' to lift the trophy.

The spellers were named as joint winners because there were not enough words left on the competition's list to continue the face off.

This year, some 285 spellers competed for the grand title.