PEMBROKE – It lasted 15 rounds, but when the sparring was over, an East Machias youngster scored the knockout word to win the Washington County spelling bee.

A happy Molly Nichols, 12, a sixth-grader at the Elm Street School, walked away with the first-place prize for her school, and eighth-grader Caredwen Foley, 12, of Woodland Junior High School took second place. The third-place ribbon went to sixth-grade pupil Alysha Latvis, 11, of East Grand, who punctuated each correct word she spelled with a tiny jump in the air and a click of her heels.

Twenty-two contestants Tuesday vied for the three top spots in the Washington County bee.

The event was held at the Pembroke Elementary School. This year there was a disproportionate number of girls – 17 – and five boys. Dress varied from faded blue jeans to some stylish dresses.

It was a tense 90 minutes as the youngsters, ages 11 to 15, scratched their heads and reached deep into their gray matter to pull out the right letters.

Most of them had traveled a great distance to participate. Pupils from Danforth to Columbia Falls were on hand.

While the youngsters tugged at their clothes and cast their eyes to the heavens, hoping the Spirit of Spelling would help, their parents, teachers and friends waited nervously for each vowel and consonant to fall into place.

During the first round, “mentality,” “eclipse” and “mesa” knocked four of the contestants out of the competition.

The second round proved easier, and the remaining contestants eagerly spelled, then looked to the judges for approval. When the judges said they had spelled a word correctly, the contestants would offer a large sigh before returning to their seats.

Round three proved to be a toughie. Words such as “circumstantial,” “tantalize” and “ligament” claimed 10 spellers.

As the clock ticked toward 8:15 p.m., only three girls, Nichols, Foley and Latvis, were still standing. It was during round eight that Latvis was bitten by the word “insecticide” and had to sit down.

The tension began to mount. In rounds 10, 11, 12 and 13 Nichols and Foley battled back and forth. They were unstoppable when it came to words like “vagabonds” and “affability.”

It was during round 14 that the monster in Greek mythology with a lion’s body, wings and the head and bust of a woman caused Foley to stumble. She misspelled “sphinx.”

The rules require the final contestant to successfully spell two words in a row. Nichols had already breezed through “ferret.” As the audience waited expectantly, the night’s pronouncer, Gregory Gray, a teacher in Jonesport, asked Nichols to spell “limerick.” She sped through the word, which means a light verse form, and she was proclaimed the winner.

The Bangor Daily News sponsored the event and provided ribbons for the winners. Union 104 provided medals and trophies.

“It gets better every year,” said Union 104 Superintendent Joseph McBrine. “We had some good spellers there.” McBrine said he was also pleased with the large turnout of family members who came to support their spellers.

Nichols will compete in the state spelling bee in Bangor on March 24. The winner of that contest will represent Maine at the national spelling bee in Washington in May.