Olivia Jones won her school's spelling bee for the first time four months ago. Now, the 12-year-old from Charlotte is headed to a national stage.

Olivia, a seventh-grader at Charlotte Preparatory School in south Charlotte, won the 58th annual Charlotte Observer Regional Spelling Bee on Monday. She beat 27 other students by correctly spelling the word "nimbed" after nearly three hours and 27 rounds of competition.

The winning word - made more difficult because of a silent 'b' in its pronunciation - describes a halo or ring of light near a sacred personage's head.

Olivia advances to the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington, D.C., on May 27.

Olivia says she has participated in spelling bees before, though had not made it far in earlier competitions. Her older brother, Christian, competed in the Observer bee two years ago.

As part of her practice this year, Olivia said her parents challenged her to spell words they heard on the radio or television. Her grandfather, who loves spelling bees, also quizzed her using words from a 1997 study guide.

Monday's victory came after about 40 minutes of suspense inside a theater at ImaginOn.

After four finalists nailed their words over four consecutive rounds, they each stumbled once organizers switched over to a new list of terms that weren't on the official study list. (The switch happens after spellers have made it through the original list.)

It took four more rounds to narrow the field, leaving Olivia and Angeli Gupta, an eighth-grader from Concord, to face off for the top prize.

"This is hard," one of the boys whispered to another contestant as they awaited their own spell-off that took about 10 minutes and 17 words. At the end, Ashwin Subramaniam placed third.

The Observer regional bee features students from 14 counties in the Carolinas, who represent a variety of public and private districts and associations.

Students first compete through at least two bees before making it to the regional.

The students generally breezed through the opening rounds, easily tackling words like "harmonica," "stoic," "magnolia," "Spartan" and "knavery."

In most cases, students asked for additional information such as the origin of the word or an alternate meaning. Some tapped on their hands as they worked to make through each word. The ring of a small bell signaled an incorrect answer.

A close call came in the sixth round when Asher Eskind stepped to the microphone to spell "philanthropy." After initially telling him he'd gotten it wrong, a judge said "Oh, wait," looked more closely at a stack of papers and corrected herself.

Asher put both hands to his chest and breathed a sigh of relief before walking back to his seat.

Many of the students admitted to nerves before the competition, though Olivia Jones said hers began to settle after the first round was over.

The practice helped, she said. Still, there's one thing she hasn't been asked to spell yet in a competition: "bequeath," which is her favorite word.

"It's such an interesting-sounding word," she says. "I just like it."

The winning word

nimbed: adjective

Pronounced "nemd" or "nimmed," this word is defined as "having an indication in an art work of radiant light or ring of light around or above the head of a sacred personage." i.e. Nimbed figures are common in Western religious art prior to the High Renaissance.

Source: Scripps National Spelling Bee

Prizes

• Along with an all-expenses paid trip to the Scripps National Spelling Bee, Olivia Jones won a $100 U.S. Savings Bond and a copy of Webster's Third New International Dictionary, donated by sponsor Merriam-Webster.

• Angeli Gupti, who finished second, won a $250 Visa gift card and a Merriam-Webster dictionary.

• After a spell-off with a fourth finalist, Ashwin Subramaniam placed third and receives $140 in gift cards.

The three winners also receive a one-year subscription to Encyclopedia Britannica online and the 29th edition of Valerie's Spelling Bee Supplement.

- April Bethea