I before E, except after C ...

His winning word may have been "abominate," but 13-year-old Xavier Dickson was anything but repugnant when he took the top honors at the 60th annual Yuma County Spelling Bee Wednesday.

And his victory was the second academic honor garnered by the Centennial Middle School eighth-grader. Last week, he won the MathCounts competition, which tested 80 Yuma County students' math skills.

Wednesday's bee started out with 48 spellers and, in the seventh round, was whittled down to Dickson and Gabriel Mitchell, a seventh-grader representing Home Educators of Yuma, who won last year's spelling bee.

The two both misspelled "stentorian," "pettifog" and "inopportune" before Dickson spelled "treacherous" correctly.

Then Mitchell missed "assuasive," and Dickson got it right.

The final word was next.

"A-b-o-m-i-n-a-t-e," he said, winning the bee and an opportunity to compete at the state level next month.

Dickson said when it came down to him and Mitchell he was "somewhat" nervous.

"I was just there to have fun, though," he said.

To prepare for the bee, Dickson said he read a lot.

"We quiz him all the time," his father, Steve Dickson, added.

Dickson said he was excited to win but his excitement couldn't match his parents'.

"We're very happy," Steve Dickson said, while mom Rosie Herrera agreed. "He's like a big, uncut diamond. You haven't even seen him yet."

Diana Smith, a social studies teacher at Centennial who was Dickson's coach, said she didn't have to do much coaching.

"He does it (all) himself," she said. "He reads and reads. His parents back him a whole lot at home."

Mitchell, the runner-up, said he didn't do much to prepare for the event.

"I knew my chances were quite well, but I just didn't expect," he said. "I don't mind. He deserved it. He was actually

quite good."

The event, held at the Yuma Historic Theatre, was organized by Newspapers in Education at The Sun and the Yuma County Schools Superintendent's Office.

Michelle Sims, director of public relations and marketing for Arizona Western College, served as the pronouncer. Judges were Terry Ross, editor of The Sun; Randy Hoeft, managing editor of The Sun, and Lupe McDaniel, a kindergarten teacher at Ed Pastor Elementary School and the 2005 Yuma County Teacher of the Year.

"It was very fulfilling to see that there's so many young kids striving to better themselves," said McDaniel, who acted as judge for the first time. "They're not afraid to compete."

County Schools Superintendent Tom Tyree enjoyed watching the first half of the competition before he had to leave for another commitment.

"I thought it was great," Tyree said. "Being the 60th year, I thought that made it special...It's pleasing to see the

diversity of students and the number of parents there to support their children."