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Spelling Bee crowns co-champions for third straight years (w/photo gallery)

 
Nihar Janga, an 11-year-old from Texas, left, and Jairam Hathwar, a 13-year-old from New York, hold the trophy as co-champions of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday in Maryland. [Getty Images]
Nihar Janga, an 11-year-old from Texas, left, and Jairam Hathwar, a 13-year-old from New York, hold the trophy as co-champions of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday in Maryland. [Getty Images]
Published May 27, 2016

OXON HILL, Md. — The words were tougher. The final rounds lasted longer. The result was the same.

The Scripps National Spelling Bee ended in a tie for the third consecutive year Thursday night, with Jairam Hathwar of New York and Nihar Janga of Texas declared co-champions after a roller-coaster finish.

Thirteen-year-old Jairam is the younger brother of the 2014 co-champion, Sriram Hathwar. Nihar, at age 11, is the youngest winner of the bee on record.

Scripps made the bee tougher after two consecutive ties, forcing the last two spellers to get through three times as many words as in years past.

Jairam misspelled two words, but both times, Nihar followed up with a miss and the bee continued.

Each will receive a trophy and $45,000 in cash and prizes.