Fil-Am Teen Places 5th At Scripps National Spelling Bee 2014

A 14-year-old Filipino-American girl finished 5th at the 2014 Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Photos of Alia Abiad (Courtesy: Scripps National Spelling Bee)

Alia Abiad, an eighth-grader at McClure Junior High in Western Springs, Illinois, was among the 12 finalists who competed in the Championship Finals of the prestigious competition held in Oxon Hill, Maryland earlier today. She exited the stage as the final girl contestant after failing to spell the word irbis, which means a snow leopard, correctly.

Abiad received a $2,500 cash prize along with a Scripps medal, a Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a 12-month subscription to Microsoft Office and a one-year membership to Encyclopedia Britannica online edition.

A total of 281 regional winners came to Oxon Hill for the final rounds this week. Of the 281, 46 advanced to the Semifinals and only 12 made it to the Championship Finals. Sriram Hathwar from Corning, New York, and Ansun Sujoe, from Forth Worth, Texas, were named co-champions of this year's competition.

It was the second time that Abiad competed in the annual contest. She previously made it to last year's semifinal round, tying for 19th place.

Born in the Philippines, Abiad and her parents, who both graduated from University of the Philippines College of Medicine, moved to the United States when she was one year old. Her father, Homer, is an internist and infectious disease specialist while her mother, Lorraine, is a cardiologist in Illinois. -NoypiStuff