SAN DIEGO — A seventh-grade student from Santa Sophia Academy won the 51st Annual San Diego Union-Tribune Countywide Spelling Bee on March 17.
The student, Christian Antonio, 12, correctly spelled “huipil,” a colorful women’s shirt from Oaxaca, to win the championship after 13 rounds.
“I want to say thank you,” he said, according to The Union-Tribune. “And I want to thank my family for supporting me, and my school, Santa Sophia. I’m glad my hard work paid off. And I want to thank God for getting me there.”
The youngster earned a pass to compete in the 2021 Scripps National Spelling Bee, to be held in Orlando on July 8, all expenses paid.
He’s the second San Diego Catholic school student to be crowned the county’s top speller in five years. Ella Peters, from Notre Dame Academy, won the 47th Countywide Spelling Bee in March of 2016.
