Eighth-grader Sarah Rye of Kalispell is the Montana spelling champion.

After 25 rounds against 60 competitors in grades five through eight, Sarah crossed the spelling bee finish line with the correct spelling of “herringbone” at the Treasure State Spelling Bee in Billings on Saturday.

Sarah, the Flathead County spelling champion, earned an all-expenses paid trip to Maryland to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee May 25-26.

The win was not without a tense spelldown as the home-schooled student went head-to-head with Aidan Veress, a sixth-grader from Gardiner School, for a few rounds.

When Aidan misspelled a word in round 22, Rye had to spell the next two words correctly.

In a tense moment, Sarah correctly spelled the first word, “gudgeon,” but misspelled the next word, “singspiration.”

“I really didn’t know what was going to happen,” Sarah said during an interview Tuesday. “I just didn’t know.”

The final showdown eventually led to Aidan misspelling another word. Sarah came in for the win with “espresso” and finally “herringbone.”

Throughout the state spelling bee, the shy 13-year-old revealed no outward appearance of anxiety or jubilation, according to her father, Rob — until it was finally over and a smile crossed her face, much like it had during the Flathead County Bee in February.

Much like the county bee, Sarah asked for language of origin, alternative pronunciations and occasionally definitions of words — pausing methodically between spelling each letter.

Words cannot simply be memorized at this level, Sarah said. She had a practice list of more than 1,000 words. And words chosen during the state bee weren’t always from the list.

She has found that learning the language of origin has been helpful. She gave an example of words with German origins. She said some German words have a “sh” sound but are spelled like “sch” such as the word “schottische.”

To prepare for spelling competition, Sarah assiduously studied the Scripps word lists online, practicing out loud with her parents.

“We sat for hours daily,” Rob said, and both had to practice their pronunciation.

Sarah also belonged to a spelling bee group through the Flathead Home Educators Association with Bonnie Compton serving as coach.

At the national level, Sarah will be able to ask questions to some extent on roots of words, another avenue of word study. She is also studying a dictionary, which was the prize at the county bee.

The Ryes are hoping to make the trip to Maryland a family affair including Sarah’s mother, Elizabeth, and younger sisters Abigail and Hannah, stopping in Connecticut to visit her grandparents.

In Washington, D.C., the Ryes plan to visit national monuments and Sarah is excited about seeing The Smithsonian.

Hilary Matheson is a reporter for The Daily Inter Lake. She may be reached at 758-4431 or [email protected].