Ohio Teen Wins Bee Amid D-R-A-M-A

Who says Cleveland can't win a championship? The long-suffering sports city captured one in a DC ballroom last night when 14-year-old Anamika Veeramani took first prize at the 83rd Scripps National Spelling Bee, keeping a poker face as she spelled "stromuhr," and not cracking a smile until the trophy was presented—which comes with more than $40,000 in cash and prizes. Then Anamika relented: "Go Cavs!"

But elsewhere there was drama: Concerned after a particularly brutal round that there wouldn't be enough spellers left to fill the two-hour slot on ABC, organizers stopped the semifinals and declared that the 10 spellers onstage would advance, including six who didn't have to spell a word. "I would rather have five finalists, than five who didn't deserve it," said one finalist. "I think it was unfair." (More spelling bee stories.)