Ashton Willrich of East Palestine walks back to his seat in relief after correctly spelling a word he wasn’t sure about.

Forty-seven of the best elementary and middle school spellers competed in the 60th annual Columbiana County Spelling Bee. The event went 23 rounds before Salem eighth-grader Maria Sargent captured the championship. Among her prizes: a first place plaque; the Samuel L. Sugarman Award, a 2019 United States Mint Proof Set donated by Jay Sugarman; a one-year subscription to the Britannica Online Premium; one-year subscription to Merriam-Webster’s Unabridged Online Dictionary; and Valerie’s Spelling Bee Supplement – Animal Words Booklet. Sargent also receives, along with a chaperone, an all-expense-paid trip to Washington D.C., for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, donated by the sponsors of the county bee — the Morning Journal, Salem News and The Review. Shown here are Sargent and many of the other spellers who competed in the event at Lisbon Davidson Anderson High School.