As he sat in concentration for more than an hour, John Paca suddenly smiled when he realized he won a nearly two-hour competition.

During the 53rd Lake County Spelling Bee Feb. 20 at the Ronan Event Center, Paca was announced the winner after 14 rounds, correctly spelling “toucan” and “abdicate.”

“I was calm. I just keep my mind steady,” he said after his victory.

Paca, an eighth grader at Ronan Middle School, said that to prepare for spelling bees, he reads dictionaries.

For the state bee, however, he’s going a different route.

“I’m going to try a different method… I’m still thinking,” he said.

Paca’s favorite subject in school is gym class, where he said he can stay active.

In his free time, Paca said he hangs out with his neighbors and his sister, who was also in the spelling bee, seventh grader Angelene.

A total of 25 students participated in the spelling bee, in which 41 students qualified from around the county.

This year’s runner-up was Mollykate Sullivan, an eight grader at Charlo schools, while taking third place was Polson Middle School eighth grade student Talaeh Hernandez.

Students were randomly given words from the Merriam-Webster dictionary to spell, which included a list of more than 470,000 words.

On March 17, both Paca and Sullivan will travel to Billings to compete in the Treasure State Spelling Bee, which will be at no cost to them or their families.

Lake County Schools Superintendent Carolyn Hall said that due to a grant from the Flathead Community Foundation, the students’ lodging will be paid.

The three students were awarded trophies, which were donated by Ronan Auto Parts.

Judging the spelling bee were Lake County Clerk and Recorder Paula Holle, Lake County Commissioner Gale Decker and Michelle Wood. All three are former Lake County school superintendents.

Daniel Stiffarm was the pronouncer for the evening.

The Lake County Spelling Bee is sponsored by: The Lake County Superintendent of Schools Office; Ronan Public Schools who hosted the event; Lower Flathead Valley Community Foundation; and Ronan Auto Parts, which provided trophies to the top three spellers.