Taylor Hayden-Garcia, an eighth-grader from Chuckey-Doak Middle School, correctly spelled "captain" to win the Greene County Spelling Bee held Tuesday night at Mosheim Elementary School.

Hayden-Garcia, who received the $200 top prize, is the daughter of Shannon Phillips, of Greeneville.

Forty students competed from 10 county elementary and middle schools, and two of the top four spellers were from McDonald Elementary School.

Sarah Beets, an eighth-grader from McDonald, placed second and received $150.

Brandon Smith, a fifth-grader from Glenwood Elementary School, placed third and received $100. Jason Robertsen, an eighth-grader from McDonald, placed fourth and received $50.

Sarah Beets is the daughter of Randy and Pam Beets, of Mohawk.

Brandon Smith is the son of Timothy and Donna Smith, of Mosheim.

Jason Robertsen is the son of Diane and Damin Robertsen, of Midway.

The monetary prizes were provided by the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) Andrew Johnson Post 1990.

The top four spellers also received elaborate trophies provided by the Greene County Board of Education and presented by Director of Schools Dr. Vicki Kirk.

The one-hour event included numerous rounds in which a variety of words were spelled by the contestants.

They competed in front of a crowd of teachers, principals, parents, siblings and other family members.

Some of the correctly spelled words included: perturb, schooner, harmonious, chromosome, irritability, thoroughbred, niche and linguistically.

Some of Hayden-Garcia's correctly spelled words included: harassment, malevolent, literati, hexameter, and polyglot.

Words that were misspelled included: defiantly, laborious, audience, nocturnal, lullaby, municipal, stratosphere, adequate, syringe, insulation, luxurious, genesis, systematic, choreographer and facade.

In accordance with the rules, Sarah Beets misspelled "scheme," which Taylor Hayden-Garcia then spelled correctly, followed by "captain."

Asked if she had a strategy, Taylor said she counts the letters on her fingers, and she stares into space to imagine the words on a piece of paper.

She noted that she placed second in the county spelling bee when she was in the fifth grade.

Contestants were allowed to ask for their words to be repeated, for them to be used in a sentence, for the definition, or for the origin.

Several contestants asked for words to be repeated and used in sentences.

Forty-five minutes into the contest, a number of spellers were eliminated in a single round.

Then, the winner quickly emerged.

The spelling bee was directed by Yhona Jones, system supervisor.

The crowd was welcomed by Dr. Kristi Wallin, Mosheim principal.

The pronouncer again this year was Paula Smith, school system psychologist.

Judges were Judy Phillips, assistant director of schools, and Amber Potter, speech pathologist.

Coaches of the top four spellers were: Staci Inscore, C-DMS; Katie Jo Knight, Glenwood; and Pam Goss, McDonald.