Seventh-grader MaKayla Gross wasn't necessarily bursting with great merriment when she was under pressure to correctly spell "hilarity" in the final moments of the 2007 Harlan County Spelling Bee.

But she was bearing a huge grin after Thursday's short, 11-round contest, which put to the test the mental and English skills of 12 students across the county who spelled words that stumped most adults, including educators and journalists. The competition was held at the central office building of the Harlan County School System.

Second-place winner Kelsey Penix, an eighth-grader at Black Mountain Elementary School, put up an impressive battle until the 10th round, when a misspelling of "crocuses" was the beginning of the end of her good fortune. She wowed many, however, with a correct but low-speaking spelling of "sphinx" in the seventh round. That forced judges to do what's rarely been done in the past - check an audio recording of the spelling bee.

Penix was patient, and right.

"What composure," quipped Jeanne Ann Lee, the spelling bee pronouncer.

But, in the end, it was consecutive, accurate spellings of "colossal" and "hilarity" that earned Gross the top honor. According to the rules of the contest, the champion must correctly spell two more words than his or her competitor. The Hall Elementary School student was awarded a plaque and a Webster collegiate dictionary courtesy of WHLN.

Third-place ribbons went to Harlan Elementary School fourth-grader Tyler Lankford, the youngest competitor; Victory Road Christian Academy fifth-grader Rachel Dixon; and Wallins Elementary School eighth-grader Brandi Niday. Misspelling in the sixth round, the three came in behind Penix, thus tying for third place.

"These are all winners. That's how they got here," said longtime bee organizer Gayle Jurgens, who directed her 10th and final contest on Thursday. The Title I director for the county school district is retiring in June.

"It gets exciting. It's like a ballgame. This is one of those things you hate to give up," Jurgens said.

Jurgens and Lee reviewed rule changes for statewide spelling bees this year and walked students through a practice round before Thursday's competition. Brent Roark, Title I supervisor, and Stacy Noah, achievement gap coordinator, served as the judges.

The words students were required to spell came from the 2007 School Pronouncer Guide and could be used in a sentence or defined at students' requests. Students were also allowed to use a notepad and pencil to think through their words before orally spelling them.

Gross is now eligible to participate in the 2007 Kentucky Derby Festival Spelling Bee at Churchill Downs in Louisville on March 27. The winner of that contest will move on to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., on May 30. If Gross is unable to participate at the state level, Penix will be eligible to take her place. At least one student in recent years has won the state competition, Jurgens said.

Other students participating in this year's contest included: Joseph Rowe, Cawood Elementary School; Anna Sturgill, Cumberland Elementary School; Taylor Bowman, Evarts Elementary School; Amber Nolan, Green Hills Elementary School; Emily Wills, Harlan County Christian; Bethany Aslinger, Harlan Middle School; and Josh Madison, Rosspoint Elementary School. All 12 students received certificates of recognition as winners of their schools' individual spelling bees.

The countywide spelling bee is hosted annually by the Harlan County School System and is open to public, independent, private, parochial and home-schooled students who must not have reached their 16th birthday by May 30 or passed beyond the eighth grade on or before Feb. 1. There is no minimum age limit.