Victoria Long

TUPELO, Miss. — It took 16 rounds, but with the correct spelling of P-R-O-M-P-T-E-D, Victoria Long of Mooreville Middle School won the 2025 Lee County Spelling Bee at the Church Street Elementary Auditorium.

The 7th-grader advanced to the championship round after successfully spelling, W-A-V-E-L-E-N-G-T-H. She outlasted Ren Crowell of Milam.

Finishing third was Madelyn Gan Lim, a 7th-grader at Tupelo Middle School.

All three advance to the online round, which will be held February 4. From there, the top online spellers will compete at the state spelling bee in the spring.

In all, there were nine participants competing, three each from the Tupelo, Lee County, and Nettleton School Districts.

Participants:

Tupelo Public School District

Ren Crowell — Milam

Madelyn Gan Lim — Tupelo Middle School

Ronwick Clark — Lawhon

Lee County School District

Victoria Long — Mooreville Middle School

Warner Bryan — Mooreville Middle School

Derrick Williams — Verona Elementary School

Nettleton School District

Jonah Lindsey — Nettleton Elementary

Harley Robbins — Nettleton Elementary

Alex Burcham — Nettleton Elementary