Faizan Zaki, 13, of Texas, has been named the champion of the 2025 Scripps National Spelling Bee, which is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. He was the runner-up in last year’s bee and on Thursday beat out eight other students to win the Scripps Cup.

Faizan Zaki, the 13-year-old champion of the Scripps National Spelling Bee, spoke with "CBS Mornings Plus" about the tense final rounds and claiming victory a year after finishing as the runner up.

After 10 grueling rounds that began with 243 young contestants — and six locals — before winnowing the field to nine, one speller from Los Angeles County remained.