Yahya Mohammed, a seventh-grader at Larsen Middle School in Elgin, competes in the Scripps National Spelling Bee. He was the last speller remaining from Illinois, finishing tied for 36th overall. (Kane County Regional Office of Education photo)

Yahya Mohammed, the Kane County Regional Spelling Bee champion, reached the semifinals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

Mohammed, a student at Larsen Middle School in Elgin, earned his second consecutive trip to the competition in Washington D.C. after winning the Regional Bee in March.

He was the last speller remaining from Illinois, finishing tied for 36^th overall.

The 13-year-old seventh-grader correctly spelled the words alate, cantino, boffo and osphresis.

He met the spelling test requirement and also correctly defined “aboriginal” as “the earliest of its kind in a region” and “tarnished” as something that “loses its desirable qualities.”

Mohammed went out in the eighth round when he defined a “basilisk” as “an oblong building ending in a semicircular altar.” The correct answer was a mythological reptile with poisonous breath that can kill with a single glance.

The Larsen student tied for 60^th in last year’s National Spelling Bee.