Drake Borden, 12, won Island Christian Academy’s spelling bee on Jan. 13 and will compete in the Scripps Skagit County Regional Spelling Bee on March 12.

Borden, a seventh-grader, won the competition by spelling the word “eleemosynary” correctly.

The runner-up in the competition was 12-year-old seventh-grader Lilah Chappelle, while third-place was awarded to 11-year-old seventh-grader Shannon Justus. The top-three emerged from a pool of 48 students, grades second through eighth.

Office administrator Angela Ohme said the competition began on Jan. 12 but after two hours, Borden, Chappelle and Justus had completed their age group’s spelling script. A more advanced script was given the following day, where Borden emerged victorious.