BY BOB HOLT

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

"Vaquero" is a Spanish word meaning "cowboy." Many of us would have problems spelling "caballero."

Not six-year-old Lori Anne Madison of Virginia.

A Reuters report in the Chicago Tribune said Madison defeated 21 elementary and middle school competitors in winning the Prince William County spelling competition.

Lori told Fox News, "I was confident because I have been in spelling bees with older kids before and I judge them by who they are, not about age."

Lori and her parents will travel to Washington to participate in the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee, taking place May 29 to June 1. ABC News reported that Lori will be the youngest speller by two years in the history of the competition.

She will meet 276 regional spelling champions from across the world, and over $40,000 in cash and prizes will be up for grabs. The National Spelling Bee has been held since 1925, and it can be seen live on ESPN.

The 6-year-old, who is home-schooled, had to stand on her tiptoes to reach the microphone to spell vacquero, according to InsideNova. Her mother, Sorina Vlaicu Madison said, “We practiced that word several times because she kept getting it wrong. We really insisted on that word so I knew for sure she would nail it.”

Lori won a trophy and title for winning the Prince William County contest, along with a Webster’s Third New International Dictionary and gift cards for Barnes & Noble.