POULSBO — If at first you don’t “suc-seed” try, try, try again. That’s exactly what Cindi Wise did as she won the women’s watermelon seed spitting contest at Poulsbo’s Third of July celebration.

“I just feel very lucky, and I’ve competed every year since it began,” Wise said.

With a launch of more than 34 feet, Wise said the key to this year’s success was her family.

“I owe it all to my caring and loving family,” she said. “They’re my cheer squad.”

After winning the contest, Wise said there is no doubt she will return to defend her title next year.

On the men’s side, a rookie competitor took the top honors as Jeff Sveen utilized his tried-and-true technique to blow past the competition.

“I just curled my tongue, and it was a matter of height and distance,” Sveen said.Even though Monday was his first venture in the competitive seed spitting world, Sveen said he’s been spitting seeds for most of his life.

“This was my first attempt (at the contest) and I’ll have to come back next year to defend my title,” Sveen said.

While they were too young to compete in the seed spitting contest, two 11-year-old girls were confident in their ability to devour watermelon faster than any of the boys.

“Yes, I can beat the boys,” said Rachel Letheler from Seattle as she and her friend, Andrea Jewett, also from Seattle, sat waiting for the event to begin.

“We weren’t in Poulsbo last year for the Third of July, but we had to come this year,” Jewett said.

However, when their shining moment arrived, Letheler and Jewett ate as quickly as they could, but came up short as neither placed in the top three.

For 9-year-old Conner Dunning of Poulsbo, the event provided the chance to eat through the competition as he left little more than the rind when the final bell sounded.

“I like watermelon a lot, and I just ate it as fast as I could,” Dunning said.

Kids also got the chance to see how fast they could shovel down pizza provided by Domino’s Pizza and slurp up a chunk of ice cream from Dairy Queen.

Numerous food and craft vendors also filled Anderson Parkway as crowds made its way into downtown. The entire event drew huge crowds into Little Norway, but event organizer Mary Graves said she would have liked more competitors in the seed spitting event, sponsored by Poulsbo Albertsons.

“The weather’s been great for the second year in a row, and I think this is the best streak we’ve had,” Graves said.

By the time the first fireworks lit up the skies over Liberty Bay, Graves said the event reached a near record crowd.

“We had at least as many people as we did last year, and the choreography of the fireworks was the best it’s ever been,” Graves said.