OXON HILL, Md. (AP) — Akash Vukoti no longer stands out at the Scripps National Spelling Bee for his age, not with a record 23 spellers competing this year who are 9 or younger. But he’s the only ...

Akash Vukoti was 2 years old when he entered his first spelling competition, in Ashburn, Va., in 2012. “He was very much into the alphabet and numbers, and had a very photographic memory,” his father, ...

(NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.) — Akash Vukoti of San Angelo, Texas, may be the youngest contestant -- and the first first-grader -- ever to reach the Scripps National Spelling Bee, but he was in it to win it.

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in ...