By Jennifer Glickel
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — A malicious statement meant to ruin someone's reputation was the only thing left for 10-year-old Arvind Mahankali to overcome.
"C-A-L-U-M-N-Y," Mahankali spelled with confidence to win the 46th Annual Daily News New York City Spelling Bee on Friday afternoon.
Mahankali, who is from Forest Hills, Queens, will head to Washington, D.C. in May along with Thursday’s bee champion, Manhattanite Thomas Dumbach, to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Eleven of the 107 finalists who competed in the bee were students from Manhattan, and Mahankali had to out-spell five of them on Friday.
"When I was sitting there, I knew I was going to win because I studied," Mahankali told DNAinfo while standing next to a trophy almost as tall as he.
"I'm very excited for the national bee," Mahankali said. "I want to win."
Rose Spinna, a fifth-grader from the Upper East Side, made it to one of the final rounds in Friday's competition before misspelling "egregious." Despite her loss, Spinna enjoyed herself.
"It was very exciting," she said. "Sometimes it's kind of stressful, but in all it's kind of fun."
Spinna, who became a good speller by being an avid reader, said she will likely continue to participate in spelling bees next year.
