WASHINGTON -- You might know it better as a word meaning "foresight."

Pratyush Buddiga knows it as the word that won him a trophy and $12,000.

The 13-year-old Colorado Springs, Colo., public school student spelled "prospicience" right to win the National Spelling Bee Thursday.

Buddiga beat out 249 other contestants -- including 14-year-old Steven Nalley of Mississippi -- in the final round.

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Nalley tripped up on the word "morigeration."

Buddiga said he didn't think he really had a chance to win. He said he just wanted to finish in the top five.

Among those in the Washington audience was 83-year-old Frank Neuhauser, who won the first National Spelling Bee in 1925.

Neuhauser said the words today are "much more difficult."

Starting the day, 90 spellers remained from the original field of 250 regional winners from all around the nation.

Wednesday's second round featured an unprecedented 25-word written test designed to shorten the competition from three days to two. The results split the field nearly in half -- sending one group of stricken kids quietly, sometimes tearfully -- back to the books for another year.

The top scorers crowded around to claim their prize: A white polo shirt for Thursday's final rounds.

Students in states with no sponsors have complained that the competition unfairly keeps them out.