The National Spelling Bee came to a conclusion Thursday night with Zaila Avant-garde, who is a 14-year-old from Harvey, Louisiana, taking home the top prize.
Avant-garde won the championship in 18 rounds, defeating 10 other finalists, according to Yahoo News.
“It felt like really good to become a winner simply because of the fact that I’ve been like working on it for like two years and then to finally have it like the best possible outcome was really good,” Avant-garde told “Good Morning America.”
Avant-garde became the first African American contestant to win after 93 editions of the spelling competition, according to CNN.
There has only been one other Black winner — Jody-Anne Maxwell, who was from Jamaica. She won in 1998, according to The New York Times.
Original post from Herb Scribner/MSN-Deseret News
