Zaila Avant-garde, a 14-year-old girl and Louisiana native, made history this past Thursday night, becoming the first Black American person to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee. Known for her dreams of one day playing in the WNBA, she also lists basketball as a hobby and excels at that as well. According to the Guardian, Avant-garde holds three Guinness world records for her ability to dribble multiple balls all at the same time.
The word that won Avant-garde the Scripps National Spelling Bee title was “murraya,” the Guardian reported, causing her to leap with joy after realizing she had won. The word translates to a tropical flowering tree. She will reportedly receive a $50,000 prize for the win.
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Though Jody-Anne Maxwell, a Jamaican champion, competed in and won the competition in 1998, Avant-garde will go down in history as the first person of African-American descent to win the national spelling bee. The 14-year-old was coached by Cole-Shafer Ray, 20, who won the Scripps National Spelling Bee in 2015, the Guardian reported.
According to CNN, some of Avant-garde’s spelled words during the competition were “querimonious” and “solidungulate,” proving that the Harvey-born vocabulary star can understand words far beyond her grade level and some that most adults wouldn’t know. According to the news outlet, a word that did give her pause was “nepeta,” the name for an herb from the mint family, also referred to as catmint.
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Avant-garde also shared moments leading up to the spelling bee and her insane dribbling skills with her online fans via Instagram. From bouncing several balls while riding a tricycle to keeping six basketballs in a consistent dribbling rotation, she’s proof that there’s nothing you can’t accomplish with practice and determination.
