Chapel Hill Middle School eighth-grader Elijah Bransford beat out 28 other students to win the annual Douglas County School System Spelling Bee with the word “annexation.”

The annual bee featured 29 students from across the county, each representing their elementary or middle schools, Friday.

Spectators in Citizen’s Hall at the Douglas County Courthouse watched as Elijah Bransford and Solomon Takang, a sixth-grader at Chestnut Log Middle School, attempted to outspell each other for the first place trophy.

The 13-year-old Chapel Hill middle schooler has participated in the bee twice and appears to be a natural speller.

“I only studied one day, but I went over the list four times,” said Bransford.

The event was kicked off by a welcome from the chairman of the Douglas County Commission, Tom Worthan.

“Congratulations to all of you. Take a deep breath and relax. Everybody will be winners today,” said Worthan.

Associate Superintendent Suvess Ricks also offered words of encouragement to the contestants.

“We’d like to thank our parents and schools for the outstanding job they’ve done with the students,” said Ricks.

The bee lasted for 10 rounds, and finally came down to three boys with the two finalists in middle school and the third-place winner, Sterling Moss, in fifth grade at Bright Star Elementary School.

The finalists spelled 15 words until one was misspelled. They each correctly spelled “hypochondria,” “tandoori” and “froufrou,” with the final word spelled wrong being “roux,” a word French in origin.

Tensions ran high as the words got more complex with each round, and the audience applauded with the beginning of every new round.

The top three contestants received trophies, which depicts a bumblebee wearing a graduation cap. All contestants were given a Webster’s pocket dictionary to take home.

The finalists, Bransford and Takang, will compete at the District 4 Spelling Bee in DeKalb County later this month. Whoever wins the District 4 Spelling Bee will then compete for the state title.