Countless hours of hard work culminated for 18 young people on Thursday evening when they went head-to-head in hopes of winning the 2022 Belmont County Spelling Bee.

In the end, though, only one of them could come out on top.

This year, the Belmont County spelling champion is Jacob Theaker, a 13-year-old seventh-grader at Martins Ferry Middle School. Theaker, the son of Jennifer and Rich Theaker, faced some tough competition on his way to victory. The top two spellers from each participating school district in the county met at Belmont College, each nervous but prepared for the competition.

Now, Theaker will head to Washington, D.C., along with a parent and a coach to compete in the Scripps National Spelling Bee on June 2. The first place winner also received a $500 cash prize, a trophy, a Merriam-Webster Unabridged Online Certificate, The Samuel Louis Sugarman Award, a plaque with the two winning words for his school, a traveling trophy for the school and a one-year subscription to the Britannica Online Premium.

The Times Leader is thrilled to sponsor the county bee each year and to be able to provide young winners with the opportunity to visit our nation’s capital. Joining the newspaper as major sponsors who make the event and its prizes possible are Belmont Savings Bank, Uniglobe Travel, Airport Limousine Service, Bordas & Bordas, Belmont College, Ohio River Valley Elks and the East Central Ohio Educational Service Center.

The runner-up in the competition was Gracie Evans, 12, a sixth-grader at Martins Ferry Christian Academy. Evans will serve as the county alternate to the national bee if Theaker cannot attend. Elizabeth Viczian took home third place, and Maggie Milliken took home fourth.

We thank our fellow sponsors for their ongoing support of this very worthwhile and challenging contest. And we congratulate Theaker and every other participant in the bee for a job well done.