The three-day competition concludes Thursday night.
There were eight bee competitors from North Carolina and six of them are from the Triangle area.
For the final night, only one student of the six is left in the competition. Kushi Gottimukkala, who is a seventh-grader at Carnage G&T Magnet Middle School in Raleigh. She also competed in last year's spelling bee and tied for 41st place.
Update: Kushi Gottimukkala lost after making it to the final four spellers. She misspelled cara sposa and ended her great run. She finishes in 4th place, and she'll be eligible for another run in the Bee in 2027.
Previous info
These were the eight competitors from the Tar Heel state: Kushi Gottimukkala, Phaneendra Bulusu, Harini Jayakumar, Sach Akella, Sophie Sung, Angelika Johnson, David Grooms and Jacob Winfield.
The other five competitors from the Triangle were:
Sach Akella, 12, is a seventh-grader at Mills Park Middle School in Cary. Sach competed in last year's bee, tying for 41st place.
Sophie Sung Sung, 11, is in fifth grade and homeschooled. Sophie lives in Durham with her four siblings - each of whom also has a name beginning in "S."
Angelika Johnson, 11, is a sixth-grader at Seventy-First Classical Middle School in Fayetteville. Angelika says she's a self-taught artist who loves to illustrate in her free time.
Jacob Winfield Winfield, 13, is an eighth-grader at Innovation Academy in Johnston County. Jacob says he loves traveling and exploring science museums as well as problem-solving - escape rooms are a favorite activity of his.
David Grooms, 12, the sixth grader attends Lafayette Elementary School in Harnett County. He loves to read mystery and action books as well as the Bible, as he is deeply committed to his Christian faith.
Spelling Bee History
The first bee was held in 1925, when the Louisville Courier-Journal invited other newspapers to host spelling bees and send their champions to Washington. After a long run at a convention center in suburban Maryland, the bee returns to the nation's capital this year at Constitution Hall, a few blocks from the White House.