Louisiana Student Wins National Spelling Bee

It's a first for the State of Louisiana. We now have a Scripps National Spelling Bee Champion.
14-year-old Zaila Avant-garde of Harvey, Louisiana wins the trophy and the $50,000 dollar prize.

Zaila, who is also a world class basketball player just ventured into the world of spelling 2 years ago and now she is a national winner. Her winning word was Murraya which means a genus of tropical Asiatic and Australian trees having pinnate leaves and flowers with imbricated petals.
Zaila is the first American Black youngster to win this title. A Black youngster from Jamaica won this honor back in 1998, but this is the first time for a Black American teen.

It took 18 rounds for Zaili Avant-garde to take the victory and the trophy. By the way, Zaila holds 3 Guinness World Records for her basketball dribbling skills. She says she wants to play in the NBA after she gets her college degree from Harvard.