Roscoe speller competes in National Spelling Bee semifinals Sunday night

After advancing from the quarterfinals, Roscoe student Avani Joshi competed Sunday night in the semifinals as one of the top 30 spellers in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, broadcast live from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m CDT. In the end, Avani became one of the 11 finalists who will travel to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida for the live broadcast on Thursday, July 8, 7:00-10:00 p.m. CDT.

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Roscoe student advances to the finals in National Spelling Bee

Behind the scenes: Avani Joshi's road to the Scripps National Spelling Bee finals

Roscoe student Avani Joshi moves on to the National Spelling Bee semifinals

Kevin Negandhi from ET SportsCenter hosted the ESPN2 broadcast of the semifinals, which were held virtually. Paul Loeffler, the voice of Fresno State Bulldogs and himself a 1990 National Spelling Bee finalist, has served as expert analyst for 15 years. Jen Lada, an ESPN reporter and host, will also cover the finals. There was even a Semifinals Pre-Show, hosted by 2015 champion Vanya Shivashankar, on Sunday, June 27, at 5:30 p.m. CT, with replays available on Facebook and YouTube.

You could watch the competition on ESPN2 & ESPNU (subscribers only, with live sports announcers), play along at https://playalong.spellingbee.com/ during the broadcast, or check the play-by-play results for each round.

According to the rules of the 93rd Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee, the contestants must have "neither turned 16 nor passed beyond the eighth grade." This year their ages range from 9 to 15. Thirteen-year-old Avani will be a freshman at Hononegah Community High School in the fall, having graduated from Roscoe Middle School this year.

The day before the semifinals, we interviewed her father and learned more about this multi-talented young woman.

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