Hundreds of elementary and middle school students will be spending the holiday weekend competing for the top spot in the Scripps National Spelling Bee.

One of those students is from Delano, and for him, this trip was a long time coming.

Gabriel Nobleza was a four-time runner up in the Kern County Spelling Bee, until this year.

He was crowned the 2019 champion after correctly spelling the word 'piffle.'

Now, he heads to Maryland for the Scripps National Spelling Bee, and he's taking his support system with him. His parents, grandmother and little sister will be there watching.

This year's competition has a record number of spellers with 565 students from across the country participating.

The cash prize is also the largest in history. The champion will be awarded a $50,000 cash prize, a trip to New York City, and a trip to Hollywood.