ROANOKE, Va. (WFXR) – The 2026 Roanoke County Spelling Bee dethroned a reigning champion and obliterated records.
Sixth grader Ashvin Pinnamajaru from Cave Spring Middle School and eighth grader Rory Grant from William Byrd Middle School are no strangers to fierce competition on the spelling bee stage.
Last year, Grant beat Pinnamajaru in the 18th round of Roanoke County Public Schools (RCPS) and proceeded to the national spelling bee. There, he advanced to the semifinal round – the furthest any Roanoke County student has been at the national level…