They've crossed their T's and dotted their I's, and now a group of nearly a dozen Maryland students with impeccable penmanship have earned the designation of "statewide winners" in a national handwriting competition and are vying for national honors.

More than 177,000 students from across the country in first-grade through eighth-grade entered this year's competition, according to the folks at Zaner-Bloser, a national publisher of handwriting programs.

A panel of professional handwriting experts judged the writing samples based shape, slant, spacing and size. (To see the writing sample from last year's Grand National Champion, click here.)

As many as 16 state winners may be chosen for each state to compete in the national round. In Maryland, the 2008 statewide winners are:

Kayla Moffett, 6th grade, Lanham Christian School, Lanham
Gopika Mini, 1st grade, Padonia Elementary School, Cockeysville
Arianna Johnson, 3rd grade, Padonia Elementary School, Cockeysville
Veena Sivaraman, 5th grade, Pot Spring Elementary School, Timonium
Erin Dodson, 3rd grade, St. John Evangelist School, Hydes
Colleen Crowley, 5th grade, St. John Regional Catholic, Frederick
Katherine Mullin, 8th grade, St. Joseph School-Fullerton, Baltimore
Christina Kilmer, 4th grade, St. Jude Catholic School, Rockville
Jeffrey Perez, 1st grade, St. Matthias Apostle School, Lanham-Seabro
Mekbib Belachew, 2nd grade, St. Matthias Apostle School, Lanham-Seabro

The Grand National Champion is expected to be named on April 16, according to Sarah Grafner at Zaner-Bloser, host of the 17th annual Zaner-Bloser National Handwriting Contest. National winners are awarded a Nintendo DS game package and a $500 U.S. savings bond. The classroom of the Grand National Champion is awarded $1000 worth of computer equipment. The teacher of the Grand National Champion gets a trip for two to Washington, DC.