Cleveland-area girl wins Scripps national spelling bee tonight

WASHINGTON (AP) - No theatrical flourishes for Anamika Veeramani.

She kept her hands behind her back and rattled off the letters of every word she was given - until she was crowned the spelling bee champion.

The 14-year-old girl from North Royalton, Ohio, near Cleveland, won the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee on Friday, acing the medical word "stromuhr" to claim the winner's trophy and more than $40,000 in cash and prizes.

Anamika became the third consecutive Indian-American bee champion, and the eighth the last 12 years. It's a run that began when Nupur Lala won in 1999 and was featured in the documentary "Spellbound."

Anamika was one of the favorites among the 273 spellers who began the three-day competition, having finished tied for fifth last year. She stood deadpan while the audience cheered, not cracking a smile until the trophy was presented.

For details of the prime-time televised Bee, read Saturday's Vindicator or Vindy.com.