STRONG — At the end of the evening on Feb. 9, one student speller would move on to the state bee. Before an audience of about 100 in the Strong School gym, 16 student spellers from Franklin County gave their best.

Gaynor Norcott from Kingfield Elementary School spelled “plantigrade”correctly in round seven and moved to round eight by himself to spell “sabotage”correctly, taking first place in the Franklin County Spelling Bee.

Second place went to Duncan Grant from Stratton Elementary School and third to Brittney Hamilton from Mt. Blue Middle School. All of the spellers came from schools in Rangeley, Jay, RSU 9 and RSU 58.

Norcott will represent Franklin County in the State Spelling Bee, which will be held on Saturday, March 19, at the University of Southern Maine.