UPDATE, 6:59 p.m. | Ishya Bhavsar has advanced to the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. She's the only speller from Kansas to advance.
EARLIER | The top Johnson County, Kansas, speller has qualified for the quarterfinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
The competition will be broadcast on ESPN3 starting at 11 a.m. today.
Ishya Bhavsar, an eighth-grade graduate from Indian Hills Middle School was named the top Johnson County speller in this year's county spelling bee.
She won it two years in a row.
She was also the winner of the Sunflower State Spelling Bee.
Bhavsar is one of two local spellers who advanced to the quarterfinals.
Emaan Arshad, 14, from Plaza Middle School in the Park Hill School District advanced after a day of virtual competition Saturday.
