This wasn’t Kaden Gay’s first rodeo with competitive spelling. And after taking home top honors Monday as the winner of the Cullman County Spelling Bee, it won’t be his last, either.

The Vinemont Middle School 8th grader was the last one standing among a field of 22 local competitors at this year’s contest, held on the campus of Temple Baptist Church. Gay correctly spelled “remorseful” as his winning word, edging out second-place finisher Karly Arndt (a St. Bernard Prep 7th grader who tripped up on “reiterate”) for the opportunity to represent Cullman County at the state level.

Now in its 95th year, the county spelling bee will send Gay onward to the Alabama Spelling Bee, which is set to take place at UAB on March 26. From there, the state winners will converge on National Harbor, Maryland to take part in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, hosted this year by Star Trek actor and Reading Rainbow host LeVar Burton.

The son of Michael and Amanda Gay of Vinemont, Kaden already had run a gauntlet of brain teasers Monday evening before landing on his winning word. He confessed afterward that he almost got tripped up by “moxie” (forceful determination) and “pauper” (an extremely poor person) earlier in the contest, though his prior experience as a county spelling bee contestant — coming in his 5th grade year — wouldn’t let him chalk up any stage stress to a case of nerves.

“It is nerve wracking, a little bit,” he admitted afterward. “But I just get up there and do it.”

If Gay can’t make the March 26 state spelling bee, runner-up finisher Arndt will serve as the local alternate to represent Cullman County. As in recent years past, the judges for this year’s bee included an actual pair of real-life local judges who volunteered their time alongside others. Behind the grown-up table Monday evening were Circuit Judge Greg Nicholas, District Judge Rusty Turner, Cullman attorney Champ Crocker, and business owner Leah Bolin.