Gabriel Nobleza is in seventh grade at Pioneer School in Delano. He's always been good at memorizing facts; his dad says he's memorized anything from all the presidents in order with facts about each to the elements of the Periodic Table with details about each of those as well.
Gabriel says his favorite subjects are math and science, but he's also pretty good at spelling.
So good, he's placed second in the county level of the Scripps Spelling Bee for four years in a row now. Monday, he found out he got his fourth silver medal, after spelling the word 'bon vivant' wrong. The winner of the competition goes to Washington D.C. for the National competition.
He said he was sad he didn't win this year, but the boy who won, Syndey Cho, is in eighth grade, meaning it was his last year to compete, so Nobleza is happy Cho now has a chance to go to Nationals. This win was Cho's fifth time competing at the county level.
Now, Nobleza plans on competing in 2019, his final eligible year. If he wins, he'll follow in Cho's steps, showing fifth times the charm.
