Davis Middle School 7th grader is spelling champ

OAKWOOD - A 7th grader from Davis Middle School is the winner of this year's Hall County Spelling Bee. Sabrina Steptoe of Flowery Branch grabbed the first place trophy Tuesday when she spelled "typhoon" correctly.

Sabrina said she knew she'd have some tough competition among the 34 county spellers, so she studied for the event.

"I studied for quite awhile every night," said Sabrina. "My mom and my sister helped me.

Sabrina took the championship after first runner-up Nikki Dulaney, a 5th grader from Friendship Elementary School, tripped on the word "renovate." Sabrina correctly spelled "renovate" and then correctly spelled "typhoon" for the win.

While "typhoon" might not have been the most difficult word of the day, Sabrina said it still made her sweat just a little when she realized that was the potential winning word.

"Actually, I was extremely nervous. My heart was kind of pounding, and I was nervous that I wouldn't get it right," she said.

Sabrina said this year was the first year she had made it to the county competition.

Second runner-up for the event was 8th grader Matthew Antoci of South Hall Middle School. Both Sabrina and Nikki will advance to the District Spelling Bee at North Gwinnett High School on February 25.