EAST MACHIAS – How do you spell d-i-p-l-o-m-a-c-y?

Susan Ames knows.

An eighth-grade pupil at the Calais Middle School, Ames correctly spelled “diplomacy” in the next-to-last round of the Washington County Spelling Bee last Thursday evening at the Washington County gymnasium.

Before an audience of other young spellers and their families from across the county, the 14-year-old Ames was perfect in her spelling, while her main challenger missed on his final word.

Robert Costa of East Machias misspelled “bicameral,” allowing Ames one more word to seal her success as the county spelling champion. By national spelling bee rules, the winner must spell an additional word.

Ames did so by correctly spelling “dramatization.” Ames is the daughter of Alan and Debra Ames. She will represent Washington County in the state bee on March 26 at Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor.

Costa, a sixth-grade pupil at the Elm Street School in East Machias, became the runner-up. He is the son of Robert Costa and Roberta Lichtenger. The third-place speller was Colby Carroll of Harrington Elementary School. The son of Jason and Laurel Carroll, he is a 13-year-old eighth-grader.

Nineteen of the 22 eligible spellers took part in the county bee. They represented 14 schools, from Milbridge Elementary to the East Range II School in Topsfield.

Going into round five, Susan Ames, Robert Costa, and Colby Carroll remained in the contest. In round five, Carroll misspelled “academe,” while Ames and Costa correctly spelled their assigned words. Ames and Costa remained in the contest for another 18 rounds before “diplomacy” and “bicameral” came into play.

Mary McFadden, a retired teacher from Dennysville, served as the county bee master. She replaced Gregory Gray of Addison, the previously named bee master who was unable to serve because of illness.

The judges were Ruth Beal, librarian at the Rose Gaffney School in Machias; Maureen Pottle, principal of the Eastport Elementary School; and Donald Ross Jr., a teacher at Elm Street School in East Machias.

The school, district, county, and state spelling bees are sponsored by the Bangor Daily News.

The eventual state bee winner will be sponsored by the BDN for a trip to Washington, D.C., to participate in the national spelling bee between May 29 and June 3.