OXON HILL, Md. -- A fifth-grade student from Leander ISD has been crowned co-champion of the 2016 Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington.
River Ridge Elementary School's Nihar Janga, 11, and Jairam Hathwar, 13, will share the title after a roller-coaster finish.
Scripps made the bee tougher after two consecutive ties, forcing the last two spellers to get through three times as many words as in years past.
Both contestants completed 24 rounds of spelling.
Jairam misspelled two words, but both times, Nihar followed up with a miss and the bee continued.
Nihar and Jairam will each receive a trophy and $45,000 in cash and prizes.
It's the third straight year the spelling bee has ended in a tie.
Jairam is the younger brother of the 2014 co-champion, Sriram Hathwar.
Nihar is the youngest winner on record and got the only perfect score on the written test.
His winning word was "gesellschaft."
In his Bee profile, Nihar shared that he "loves spelling, and he puts a lot of determination and dedication into learning new words. He also enjoys playing football with his best friends and playing video games — especially his favorite, Batman: Arkham City. Nihar likes movies that motivate him to become 'a beneficially influential citizen.' His favorite movies are Akeelah and the Bee and the Star Wars and Mission Impossible films. In the future, Nihar aspires to be a neurosurgeon who can develop many cures for serious brain disorders."