“Fennel,” a plant in the parsley family, put sixth-grader Tristian Thomas of Fortine Elementary into the 10th and final round of the Lincoln County Spelling Bee Thursday in Troy.

Correctly spelling “cavalry” won him the competition.

Thomas admits he’s a good speller, but his favorite subject is social studies because he’s fond of history. He said he participated in spelling bees before, but this is the first time he made it to the county – and now state – level.

His mom, Kara Thomas, quietly rooted for him during the competition in the Troy High School auditorium. She will be accompanying her son to the state competition March 28 in Missoula where he will vie for the chance to become a national spelling bee champion.

The annual Scripps National Spelling Bee will be held in Washington D.C. in May. 

By the fifth round of last week’s spelling bee, the 22 county participants were pared down to three: Thomas, Sarah Moen of Eureka Elementary and Victoria Gondeiro of Eureka Junior High.

Moen spelled “quell” correctly to win second, and Gondeiro placed third.

Northern Lincoln County students dominated this year, contrasting with last year’s winners – two Libby students placed first and second, and two Troy students tied for third.

Other Eureka participants this year included Alika Gillard, Stephen Cooke and Timothy Eash. 

Jenna Barrick, Adam Neisses, Buster Barnett, Roman Graziano, Patrick Valentine, Leera Woody, Jeremy Koskela, Callie Potter and Colton Thom represented Libby.

Troy spelling bee participants were Talus Martin, Erich Tallmadge, Chiena Burggraf, Callan Peel and Nickolle Phillips.

Others included Evynn Anderson of Trego Elementary School and Stephanie Chupp of Tobacco Valley Home Education Association.