Sixteen Indiana elementary students passed the Scripps National Spelling Bee preliminaries test earlier this week.
On Tuesday, the 16 faced the second round of competition. Today, after the third round, only nine advanced to the finals which will be held Thursday.
The Indiana finalists include Riya Koya and Pritikaa Biswas of Carmel; Caitlin Pooler of Indianapolis; John Spahr of Peru; Jaxson Spahr of South Bend; Noah Couch of Greencastle; Nachiket Magesh of Schererville; Grant Flora of Ligonier; and Pranav Chandar of Newburgh.
The remaining finalists will be announced later this afternoon. The first part of finals can be streamed on ESPN Thursday beginning at 10 a.m.and the last part of the final at 8:30 p.m.