Frankincense sees Marlborough student crowned NZ spelling bee champ

George Turner, 14, won the New Zealand Spelling Bee today. Photo / Supplied

Frankincense was the word that saw a Marlborough student crowned this year's New Zealand Spelling Bee champion.

George Turner, a Year 10 student at Marlborough Boys' College, today won the annual competition after coming second last year.

Hundreds of students from more than 100 secondary schools were whittled down to the top 200 in regional semi-finals and finally to the 19 Year 9 and 10 spellers who competed for the title in Wellington this afternoon.

George, 14, took home the trophy and $5000 to go towards his academic pursuits.

He said the win "hadn't sunk in yet".

"It was great to be able to come back and win this year and finally finish it off," said George, whose interests include reading, writing, swimming and gaming.

Four students made it to the final round but only George managed to spell his word correctly.

New Zealand Spelling Bee founder Janet Lucas said the field was so strong there were moments where she thought there would be nine runners-up.

"George did incredibly well to triumph in such a strong group of spellers, and to come runner-up last year and now to be champion this year shows just how strong a competitor he is," she said.

The New Zealand Spelling Bee is in its 14th year and also included a resource for primary school pupils to hold classroom competitions.