Two Kansas eighth graders competed this week in the Scripps National Spelling Bee at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Manu Sripathi, 13, a student at California Trail Middle School, Olathe Unified School District 233, and Tyler Nolte, 14, a student at Nemaha Central Middle School, Nemaha Central USD 115, were among the 231 spellers who earned their spots as national competitors by advancing through regional spelling bees. Spellers at the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee represent all 50 states, the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Department of Defense Schools in Europe. Spellers also represent three countries outside of the United States - the Bahamas, Canada and Ghana, according to spellingbee.com.

All spellers compete in four segments of competition to determine who will take home the Scripps Cup - preliminaries, quarterfinals, semifinals and finals.

Tyler was eliminated during the first round with the word "Ushuaia." He spelled it "usaya." Fifty-eight other spellers were eliminated in the first round. They all tied for 173rd place. A total of 172 spellers advanced to the second round, which was a "word meaning round."

Manu was eliminated during the sixth round with the word "endrumpf." He spelled it "endrumf." Thirty-three other spellers were eliminated during the sixth round. They all tied for 22nd place. Twenty-one spellers advanced to the seventh round.

The champion will be determined Thursday night after the finals. Going into the finals, there are 11 spellers competing for the championship title, including Sarah Fernandes, a fifth-grade student from Omaha, Nebraska.

Congratulations to Tyler and Manu in representing the state of Kansas.