Harini Logan of San Antonio wins the Scripps National Spelling Bee

WASHINGTON — Texas speller Harini Logan won the Scripps National Spelling Bee Thursday night by giving a gob-smacking spelling tutorial in a first-of-its-kind lightning round tiebreaker that determined the champion.

The 14-year-old eighth grader from San Antonio was pitted against speller Vikram Raju, 12, of Denver, in a see-saw battle that ran so long the judges went to the spell-off, a new feature triggered for the first time to be able to determine a single winner.

In the past few years, there have been numerous co-champions – in 2019 there was an eight-way tie.

The two remaining spellers had 90 seconds to spell as many words correctly as possible, and Harini wowed the crowd by spelling 21 words in a rapid-fire staccato performance. Vikram’s score was 15 words.

Harini won a trophy, a commemorative medal and more than $50,000 in cash prizes and $400 of reference books and materials from Encyclopedia Britannica, as well as international attention and media appearances.

"For me it was really just getting into that mindset where I could have that just calmness so I could focus on the words rather than getting stressed out," Harini said Friday on "Good Morning America." "I was a little tense, and it definitely was a bit difficult, but I think I just decided to focus on the words and just plow through."

Harini said she had practiced for the spell-off, and her strategy was "go in fast” and to be “focusing on the word, just reading all of the information as quick as I could and keep on going."

She credited hard work and her mother, who she said is “sort of my coach” for her success. "It takes a lot of commitment ... and, of course, a passion for the spelling bee," Harini said.

She was one of four Texans who were among the 12 finalists in the competition. Other Texans in the finals were Vihaan Sibal, 13, a seventh grader from Waco; Kirsten Santos, 11, a sixth grader from Richmond; and Shijay Sivakumar, 14, an eighth grader from Odessa.

The competition, held at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., just outside Washington, started with 234 contestants from the U.S. and around world.

Two Austin-area students made it deep into the competition.

“The whole bee was really fun,” said Austin’s Michael Kolagani, 14, an eighth grader at Pearson Ranch Middle School in the Round Rock school district, who made it to the semi-finals but misspelled obstropoulos, which means unruly. He spelled it obstropelos and finished the bee tied for 32nd place.

But Michael told the American-Statesman he was happy with his showing and said that actor Levar Burton, who hosted televised semi-finals, came up to him backstage after he missed a word to congratulate him for getting so far and shook his hand. “That was really heartwarming,” Michael said.

Tarini Nandakumar, 11, a sixth grader at Walsh Middle School in Round Rock, lost in the quarterfinals, misspelling turbot, a type of fish. She spelled it turbit.

She finished tied in 49th place, but she said the bee experience, her second, was enjoyable. “It’s interesting,” Tarini told the Statesman. “You have to study a list of the words, and there are a lot of people to talk to.”

She is looking forward to touring a new Washington museum, Planet Word, which is devoted to words and language.

With two more years of eligibility, will Tarini try to return to the bee again?

“Definitely,” she said.

Both Austin spellers were sponsored by Sweet Success ATX, an Austin educational nonprofit.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: 4 Texans were in the final 12 of the Scripps National Spelling Bee