Barry bested seven of her peers over six rounds of spelling during the bee, which took place Tuesday afternoon in the Performing Arts Center. Also participating in the bee were sixth-graders Elijah Coley, Jaclyn Courter, Alysha Gagnon, Francesca Green, Kevin Musser, Spencer O’Bryan and Sarah Valtin.

En route to her first place finish, Barry correctly spelled caboose, buckwheat, denture, mongoose, mammoth, sultan and embargo.

Half of the field was eliminated after two rounds, during which each student was given a unique word they had to spell orally while standing in front of a microphone on the stage.

In rounds three and four, Barry, Coley, O’Bryan and Green all correctly spelled their words. In round five, Green misspelled her word and was eliminated.

In the sixth and final round, Coley and O’Bryan misspelled their words. Barry then correctly spelled the word O’Bryan missed and a second word was needed to become the champion. Coley and O’Bryan tied for second place.

Barry said she studied every night for a couple weeks before the competition but did not expect to win. She said she would likely study with friends before the regional competition in March.

Sherri Aufmuth, a parent who helped organize the bee, said that while the bee was open to all middle school students, only sixth-graders volunteered for it.

"I’m really proud of these kids for volunteering," she said. "They really showed their stuff."

Delaney advances to the regional bee, scheduled for March 3 at the State University College at Oneonta. The winner of the regional bee earns an all-expenses paid trip to Washington D.C. and a chance to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee which is televised by ESPN.

She’ll be competing against bee champions from schools around the area, including Cooperstown eighth-grader Michael Leonardo, who won last year’s regional bee.