Joshua Saylor, a sixth-grader at Mirror Lake Middle School, won the 2017 Alaska State Spelling Bee on Thursday, March 30, 2017, at the Alaska Center for the Performing Arts.
Saylor's winning word was "comarca," and he'll represent Alaska at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C. in May.
"I felt quite nervous and stressed out because I only studied for like one week," said Saylor. "I wish I would have studied more, then I would have been less stressed."
There were 157 contestants in this year's spelling bee. (Rugile Kaladyte / Alaska Dispatch News)