Suburban Teen Takes Second Place In National Spelling Bee
(CBS) -- A Barrington Middle School student finished second in the annual Scripps National Spelling Bee on Thursday.
WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports 13-year-old Pranav Sivakumar was tripped up by "cyanophycean," a type of algae. He mistakenly spelled it with an "i" in place of the last "a."
He ended up taking second place to Arvind Mahankali, of New York City, who correctly spelled "knaidel" to take home the first place trophy.
Local Teen Takes 2nd In Scripps Spelling Bee
"Pranav loves to learn," said Craig Winkelman, the proud principal of Barrington Middle School's Station campus.
Winkelman said it was Pranav's third time competing in the bee.
"So it was pretty special that he kind of improved every year," he said.
Aside from spelling, Winkelman said Pranav loves math and science.
Friday morning, the school hung up a banner congratulating Pranav, who just finished the 8th grade, and wants to be an astrophysicist.
"I am sure he will excel, and achieve, and do great things," Winkelman said.
