The Farnam sisters — Emeri and Jonah — of Benton Middle School positioned themselves for a final-round showdown in the 2010 Franklin County Spelling Bee.

However, it was Kiarha Wilce, a seventh-grader from West Frankfort Central, who took top honors in the annual event.

Wilce successfully spelled ‘‘subterranean’’ to claim the overall championship Thursday night at the Frankfort Intermediate School. She will advance to the regional spelling bee in Evansville, Ind.

The county bee was sponsored by Matt Donkin, Regional Superintendent of Schools for Franklin and Williamson counties. Donkin was unable to attend the event because of illness.

‘‘The kids did a fabulous job, and we always have a good turnout,’’ said Kurt Endebrock, assistant regional superintendent. ‘‘We’d like to thank West Frankfort for hosting this year’s event. They had rooms set aside so parents were able to watch their children compete.

‘‘It was a great evening,’’ Endebrock said.

Students took their turns spelling words pronounced by Patricia Koontz, a retired teacher from the Johnston City school district. Koontz also has coordinated the St. Louis Post-Dispatch District Spelling Bee in Southern Illinois.

Destiny Ogden and Latisha Dunning of the regional superintendent’s office served as judges.

Parents and sponsors were able to watch the competition on closed-circuit televisions located in classrooms near where the competitors were working hard to advance to the next level.

Fifth-grade spellers Avery Miller of Benton Middle School, Maddie Gossett of Christopher, Ian Matheny of Frankfort Intermediate, Olivia Sweetin of Sesser-Valier, Elizabeth Drone of St. John's and Allanna Garrison of Zeigler-Royalton squared off to open the competition.

Drone and Garrison were the final two competitors from that grade, with Garrison placing first by spelling ‘‘feldspar.’’

The winning word for sixth-grade competitors was ‘‘tarragon,’’ which Jonah Farnam spelled correctly to emerge victorious over Garry Peffer of Christopher.

Also competing for that class were Amanda Fry of Frankfort Intermediate, Zachary Mabry of Sesser-Valier, Austin Beaumont of St. John's and Brandon Harris of Zeigler-Royalton.

Wilce and Jacob Harris of Christopher were the last two spellers standing in seventh-grade competition, which Wilce won with her correct spelling of ‘‘tumescent.’’

Others competing were Kyla Mitchell of Benton Middle School, Jacob White of Sesser-Valier and Ben Burroughs of St. John's.

Emeri Farnam won the eighth-grade round by spelling ‘‘ostentatious’’ after Central’s Heather Lawrence had bowed out.

Also participating were Zack Boehl of Christopher, Kristen Wylie of Sesser-Valier and Dominick Russotto of St. John's.

After Jonah Farnam and Garrison exited the championship round, Emeri Farnam and Wilce battled through 12 more sets of words before Farnam went out on ‘‘indelible.’’

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Think you can spell?

Have someone quiz you on the words from the final round of competition at the 2010 Franklin County Spelling Bee: article, dynamite, mildew, monarch, tolerant, significant, chemical, fertilize, successful, routine, casserole, punctuation, apology, centipede, accurate, commentary, immature, denominator, guidance, pharmacy, faucet, condemn, artificial, tutor, velocity, scruple, luxury, exhaust, indelible and subterranean.