Scripps National Spelling Bee crowns 8 co-champions

An unprecedented eight kids will split first place at the Scripps National Spelling Bee after exhausting the words available to spell.

The eight contestants survived 20 rounds and each correctly spelled 47 words before being crowned late Thursday night, according to The New York Times.

{mosads}“We do have plenty of words remaining in our list, but we’ll soon run out of words that will challenge you,” Jacques Bailly, the event’s pronouncer, told the contestants at Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., according to the Times.

The eight beat 557 other contestants ranging in age from 7 to 15 over the course of three days, according to NPR.

“The Dictionary concedes and adds that it is SO. PROUD,” dictionary company Merriam-Webster tweeted on Friday.

The eight finalists will each receive a $50,000 cash prize as well as a Scripps Cup.