WASHINGTON, D.C. - Kendall Foster was eliminated after the third preliminary round of the 2015 Scripps National Spelling Bee, but the experience will last a lifetime.

"It's awesome," Kendall, 13, said during a phone interview Wednesday about traveling to the nation's capital to compete for the spelling championship title.

Kendall and his mom, Tricia Foster, took a moment to call The Press on a quick break between rounds and excitement at the competition. After round three on stage, Kendall said he was "doing great."

"It was very nerve-wracking in the room, but now I feel way better," the Canfield Middle School seventh-grader said.

Kendall and 284 other spellers from around the world made it to the national bee, which began with preliminaries Tuesday morning. Contestants were required to take a multiple-choice "bubble" vocabulary test as well as participate in the traditional on-stage spelling bee.

"It was pretty hard," Kendall said of the vocab test. "(It was) a mix of words that I knew and words that I didn't know."

Although Kendall correctly spelled "vendetta" in round two and "asthenia" in round three, his vocab test score was not quite enough for him to be one of the 49 who will progress to the semifinals.

"He is happy, though, because he just won a Microsoft Surface 3," Tricia said. "65 kids were eliminated onstage during round three. 165 kids were eliminated with him."

In D.C., Kendall met Peter Sokolowski, Merriam Webster's editor-at-large, and he met and received an autograph from Paul Loeffler, the ESPN announcer. Kendall was also interviewed by NBC and the Washington Post.

"They had to put a microphone on me and the camera and the lights and stuff," Kendall said.

Kendall won the North Idaho Regional Spelling Bee in March with the word "yamen," defeating about 50 other fourth- through eighth-graders. The regional bee is hosted and coordinated by North Idaho College and sponsored by the Coeur d'Alene Press. Each year, The Press provides the regional winner with an all-expense-paid trip to compete in the national spelling bee.

"I'm so excited for him, he's a good kid, he's worked hard," said Kendall's dad, Derral Foster.

"It's something he's never experienced before, just to be in D.C. and to have all the people around and all the attention."