Indian origin girl is spelling champion

keeping the traditional dominance of the community alive which has earlier produced six of the past 10 champions. the 13-year-old kansas girl was declared the spelling bee champion after she correctly spelled 'laodicean,' at the end of the grilling finals which included 11 students from all across the country, seven of whom happened to be indian-americans. an eighth grader student from olathe in kansas, kavya beamed as she was hugged by her father mirle, mother sandy and little sister vanya. kavya, who took home more than $40,000 in cash and prizes besides the huge champion's trophy, looks forward to become a neurosurgeon. she has earlier participated in the 2006, 2007 and 2008 finals, tying for 10th, 8th and 4th places, respectively. tim ruiter, 12, a seventh grade student from centreville, virginia, was declared the runner-up, while aishwarya pastapur (13), from springfield in illinois got the third spot. this is the second time in a row that an indian-american has been declared winner of the spelling bee championship. so far eight indian-americans have won the title, including six of the past 10 winners.