On to state for Allen Casey of Cedartown.

Casey, a sixth grader at Cedar Hill Middle School, will have two weeks to sharpen his vocabulary skills for the state Spelling Bee.

Saturday, Casey won the District 7 competition in Rome by spelling “foray” and “crimson” correctly. He didn’t miss a letter in the bee, beating 12 students out of the chance of going to state and taking home the top prize of $100 and a trophy.

He won the tournament in less than an hour at the Floyd County Schools central office.

Casey credits his father, Jackie, with helping him with his vocabulary and diction. “We practiced spelling every night using a special book of spelling words,” he said.

Some of the words the champion breezed through included: immature, crusade, pastel, archery, museum, altogether, benign, fauna, thievery, conscience, cashier, lunge, coronation, stagnant, Franciscan, environs, Pegasus, optician, and laceration.

Casey captured the Polk Schools spelling bee honors in February to earn the district berth. He had also won the systemwide level in 2000.