Two-time champion speller Johannah Farner cruised through 10 rounds and outlasted 17 competitors Tuesday to capture Ojai's Area 1 Spelling Bee.

It was fitting that her winning word, "gesundheit," was German, since the precocious eighth-grader at Matilija Junior High School is fluent in the language. She also speaks Spanish.

Her victory secures her a repeat spot at the countywide bee March 10 at CSU Channel Islands in Camarillo. Last year Farner finished in the top 10, her family said. She thinks she can do better.

Asked if any of the dozens of words put to contestants Tuesday would have stumped her, Farner paused, then shook her head. "Yeah, I knew all of them," she said quietly.

It wasn't easy. Sage Whipple, a sixth-grader at Topa Topa School, matched her word for word before she faltered on "misogynist" in the 10th round.

Whipple was all smiles afterward, though. Second place, she said, was an awesome achievement. It also meant she is the first alternate.

"I kind of expected her to win," Whipple said, well aware of Farner's past success. "Johannah is really, really good."

The hourlong event inside Chapparral Auditorium drew a few quick exits, some nail biting and lots of photographs and applause.

About 80 people attended, mostly relatives of the 18 competitors from public and private schools and home schooling programs in the Ojai Valley, organizers said.

After the first four rounds, half of the contestants had exited the stage, tripped up by such words as "insidious," "nemesis" and "ergonomic."

Most of those eliminated went directly to spelling the word, ignoring an option of having it repeated, defined and announced in a sentence under the contest rules.

"I was really nervous, but it was also a lot of fun," said first-time competitor Grace Song, 11, of Ojai Valley School.

Song nailed "topography," "macramé" and "intractable," but was stumped by "egregious."

"I had never even heard of it," she said. "I thought it started with an I'."

Taylor Cook, a schoolmate of Farner's at Matilija, lasted until the final three but then slipped on "soliloquy."

"Which, of course, I knew," the 14-year-old professed afterward. "It's pretty nerve-wracking up there."

The seasoned Farner, also an accomplished violinist, showed little trace of emotion, quickly and efficiently dispatching everything pronouncer Tim Baird, superintendent of Ojai schools, tossed at her — "narcissistic," "ostentatious," "rendezvous."

The pony-tailed animal lover now turns her attention to the countywide bee and the chance to go to Washington, D.C. for the 81st annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in May. E.W. Scripps is the parent company of the Ventura County Star.

Her mother, Susan Bloom, credited her intuitive mind. Johannah's father, Dirk Farner, grandmother Joyce Bloom, and her siblings, Julia, 7, and Jacob, 9, also were on hand for the competition.

Tuesday was her 14th birthday. Had she wished for her third-straight crown? "No," she said. "We're getting a new cat."