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5-year-old girl headed to National Spelling Bee

Posted at 3:44 PM, Mar 06, 2017
and last updated 2017-03-06 15:45:27-05

Edith Fuller, 5, is set to become the youngest ever participant in the Scripps National Spelling Bee in May after winning her regional Bee in Oklahoma last weekend. 

Edith correctly spelled "Jnana"  to clinch the Scripps Green Country Regional Spelling Bee title. Edith competed against children more than twice her age during the Bee. The Bee is open to children who have not started high school. 

Edith was the top speller among 53 children aged 5 to 14 who participated in the Bee. 

Here is a sampling of the words Edith spelled correctly during last weekend's Bee regional:

Panglossian
Picaresque
Pernicious
Zephyr
Perestroika
Baedeker
Sarsaparilla

"She is very bright, we were amazed to find that she really has a knack for spelling," Edith's mother Annie Fuller said. "She can remember words that has seen and heard very easily." 

Edith's appearance in the National Bee comes a year after then 6-year-old Akash Vukoti took the Spelling Bee by storm. Akash garnered international attention after qualifying for the National Bee, and appeared on Steve Harvey's "Little Big Shots." 

Despite bowing out during preliminary rounds, Akash joined the Spelling Bee champions on "Jimmy Kimmel Live."

The 2016 Bee also crowned one of its youngest champions ever, as 11-year-old Nihar Janga was declared a co-champion along with 13-year-old Jairam Hathwar.