The Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 spelling bee Tuesday at The Lane School turned out to be a real family affair.
Brothers Atman Balakrishnan an eighth-grader at Hinsdale Middle School, and Advaith Balakrishnan, a fifth-grader at The Lane School, both were declared winners in a tie after neither misspelled a word in 44 rounds of competition. In fact, the brothers participated in 25 rounds by themselves after the other 14 contestants had been eliminated by the end of the 19th round.
Atman’s final word in the 44th round was billiken, and Advaith’s was pleonexia.
Winning the District 181 spelling bee was nothing new for Atman, who now has won four in a row and has advanced to the Scripps National Spelling Bee the past two years.
This was Advaith’s best finish in three attempts, including third place a year ago, which left him one spot short of advancing to a DuPage County bee that takes the top two from district competitions.
Now, both brothers are headed to the county bee Feb. 26 at Wheaton North High School. And both were satisfied with the first-place tie in the District 181 bee.
“Our goal was for both of us to go to the county bee,” Atman said. “We’ve worked together to get ready for this, and my brother’s been a big help to me.”
Advaith said he felt relieved when runner-up Abigail AuYeung, an HMS seventh grader, was eliminated, clinching the two county bee berths for him and his brother.
“I really wanted to go this year after finishing third last year,” Advaith said. “I just wanted to do as well as I could, but I didn’t feel any pressure to beat my brother.”
Both brothers had routines they employed during each round. Atman separately asked for the definition, a sentence using the word and the language of origin for each of his words. Advaith simply asked for all the information after being given each of his words.
“Even with words I knew right away, I ask for everything to be extra careful,” Atman said. “There’s no reason to be in a rush.”
Atman will be seeking his third consecutive DuPage County championship, which would make him a national bee qualifier for the third time.
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“I just take it one step at a time and one word at a time,” he said. “You never know what words you’re going to be given, and just one you don’t know could always prevent you from winning.”
Along with Atman, Advaith and Abigail, other spelling bee participants were third-place finisher James Bednarz, a fourth-grader from The Lane, Ethan Namkung and Gia Kapur from Clarendon Hills Middle School, Alexander Zhang and Esha Patel from Elm School, Riyan Thukral and Trifon Reed from Prospect School, Annabelle Lanand Isa Ibrahim from Madison School, Ayana Malik and Bradley Wright from Oak School and Olivia Tobolski and Kate Lowefrom Walker School.