COLUMBUS, Miss. ( WJTV ) – Azariah Green, a sixth grader from Hernando Middle School, and David Heyman, a seventh grader from Caledonia Middle School, were the first place champions in a tie of the C Spire Foundation Mississippi Spelling Bee.

In all, 317 Mississippi schools from 42 counties enrolled in the Mississippi Spelling Bee. About 8,000 students in Mississippi competed in classroom, grade, school, district and county spelling bees since fall 2023.

The top three spellers in each county advanced to the semifinals, which were held online for the first time this year. From that round, the state’s top 22 spellers emerged to compete in the state championship.

Spellers competed at Poindexter Hall on the campus of Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS, on Saturday, March 2.

Both Green and Heyman now advance to compete in the 2024 Scripps National Spelling Bee this summer near Washington, D.C. The semifinals on May 29 and the finals on May 30 will be televised nationally on ION.

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