Metro Detroit 7th grader makes it to final round in national spelling bee before he's knocked out

A Waterford Township seventh grader competed in the final round of the Scripps National Spelling Bee but was knocked out of the competition by a thick-walled sponge.

Aryan Khedkar, 12, was among the last standing in the Thursday night finals. He is a Baker Middle School student and was sponsored by the Oakland Schools Education Foundation. It was his first time competing in the bee.

His first challenge on Thursday was "elaeodochon," defined as the oil gland of a bird situated near the base of the tail. On the second round, when contestants have to identify the meanings of words, he correctly defined "vermiculate" as something shaped like a worm.

His next word to spell was "dorr," as in "there are many a dorr in Maine's Acadia National Park," as pronouncer Jacques Bailly explained. Khedkar correctly spelled the word for a glacial trough crossing a ridge or mountain range.

But Khedkar misspelled his next word, "pharetrone," a group of thick-walled sponges. Four contestants were left after Khedkar was out of the competition.

Dev Shah, a 14-year-old eighth grader from Largo, Florida, won the bee on the word "psammophile," an organism that prefers or thrives in sandy soils or areas, according to Merriam-Webster.

Khedkar enjoys solving Rubik's Cubes, playing basketball, reading, writing, math and singing, according to his spelling bee biography. He plays bass clarinet at school.

ckthompson@detroitnews.com