RONAN — Correctly spelling “ventilate” and “hinterland” in the 10th and 11th rounds respectively enabled Ronan seventh-grader Elijah Cahoon to be crowned Lake County Spelling Bee champion on Tuesday, March 6.

“It was exciting,” Cahoon said. “I was nervous over the final couple of rounds.”

Cahoon and second-place finisher, seventh-grader T.J. Knoll of Arlee, battled head-to-head for three rounds before Knoll tripped up on “dearth” to help Cahoon to the title.

With their finishes, Cahoon and Knoll will advance to the State Spelling Bee in Billings on Saturday, March 24.

“I’m pretty excited,” Cahoon said about going to the state tournament.

Matt Sitter, a seventh-grade student at Polson Middle School, took third place after misspelling “tragic.” Sitter, who will be Lake County’s state alternate, was knocked out in the sixth round.

Another Polson middle schooler, sixth-grader Cheyenne O’Connor, outlasted 46 others to finish in fourth.

The spelling bee saw 32 of 49 students knocked out in the first round on words including “leisure,” “frivolous” and “gloaming.”

The second round narrowed the field from 32 to four, saw defending champion Jacob Broughton of Ronan fall with “cholera” and last year’s runner-up Sierra Garcia of Polson eliminated by “ensemble.”

The field consisted of 10 eighth-graders, 16 seventh-graders, 11 sixth-graders and 11 fifth-graders.