The Internet was abuzz for the 2017 Scripps National Spelling Bee this week, and for good reason: The impressive 291 spellers who entered the competition Tuesday are among the top 0.000026 percent of the more than 11 million students who participated in bees around the country.

Ananya Vinay, a 12-year-old from Fresno, California, won the contest after correctly spelling “marocain,” a dress fabric.

Fans also celebrated another fixture of the bee on social media: UVM classics professor Jacques Bailly, official pronouncer for 15 years running. See what the Twittersphere had to say about Dr. Bailly, 1980 bee champion, as the finals aired on ESPN.

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PUBLISHED

06-02-2017
Andrea Rose Estey