NEW YORK ( CNN ) -- A 15-year-old girl with a 500-texts-a-day texting habit thumbed her way to the $ 50,000 grand prize at the L.G . National Texting Championship in New York on Tuesday . Kate Moore , 15 , of Des Moines , Iowa , out-texted more than 250,000 participants for the texting title in New York . Over 250,000 participants of all ages entered the competition , whose championship rounds were held in New York on Monday and Tuesday and won by Kate Moore of Des Moines , Iowa . Some challenges were straightforward tests of speed and accuracy , but others required a little extra texting savvy . In one round , texters had to send texts while blindfolded . Another round quizzed contestants ' knowledge of texting acronyms . The only acronym to stump every texter was PAW -- parents are watching . The fourth-place finisher , 21-year-old Jordan Rowe , saw her dreams of texting glory vanish in the `` pressure cooker '' round , where actors dressed as emoticons attempted to distract contestants tasked with texting tongue-twisters . Rowe failed to accurately text `` Which wicked witch wished which more wicked witch in the well ? '' while a human emoticon talked trash about her sister . Riffing off texters ' sometimes dangerous tendency to text while performing other tasks , another round required contestants to complete an obstacle course while firing off difficult-to-type texts . `` I felt like I was gon na die , '' the eventual champion said of the texting gauntlet , getting a big LOL from the audience . The finals on Tuesday afternoon pitted Dynda Morgan , 14 , of Savannah , Georgia , against Moore . The two went head to head in a best-of-three showdown to see who could most quickly pound out lengthy texts predetermined by the judges -- with no errors . Morgan , whose stepsister also made it to the championships , took the first round . Faced with a do-or-die situation in the second round , Moore seemed to bet on accuracy over speed , finishing well behind her opponent but winning the round . In the tiebreaker , the two girls furiously raced to thumb the final text : `` Zippity Dooo Dahh Zippity Ayy ... MY oh MY , what a wonderful day ! Plenty of sunshine Comin ' my way ... .Zippitty Do Dah Zippity Aay ! WondeRful Feeling Wonderful day ! '' The pregnant pause before the winner was announced stretched into a seeming eternity because Moore apparently forgot to hit send after finishing her text . But then Moore 's phone began to vibrate , signaling that she was the grand champion . Kate 's beaming mother , Claire , acknowledged that she has confiscated her daughter 's phone on occasion , but said she appreciates that her daughter 's texting habit means she 's in constant touch . `` I can get ahold of [ her ] at all times , '' she said . Nor does Moore 's mother have to foot an appallingly large phone bill each month , because her daughter is on an unlimited texting plan . She did concede that the texting portion of one of Moore 's recent phone bills stretched to 294 pages . Moore 's victory was all the more awe-inspiring because she got a phone with text capability less than a year ago . Moments after her victory , Moore agreed to an exclusive text message interview with CNN . CNN : OMG U r ltrlly the wrld 's bst txter . How does it feel ? Moore : It feels the best ! Im so prd of myself & it feels aswm that ive gottn so far ! : ) CNN : How mny txts do u snd a day ? A month ? Moore : Uhhh about lyk 400-500 in a day , an avrg of 12014 thousand a month ? CNN : Wht r u going to do w the 50 k ? Moore : Idk yet ! Prlly spend a good amount of the $ $ $ ... ... but ya got ta save some 2 b smart of course ! CNN : Do u ever get in trubl in skwl 4 txting 2 much ? Moore : haah just once or 2ce , teachers hv seen it and taken it away ... lol that sux when that happens tho . CNN : What 's ur crzst txting story ? Moore : Haha I actually have a scar on my hand from txtingg ... .i was txting on the top bunk and I sat up cuz it was a cool txt and then I hit it in the ceiling fan . CNN . Do ur thumbs hurt ? Moore : Hahah not at all ! Ud b surprised they do n't get stressed out . CNN : Kthxbi . Moore : cya ! : )
Moore of Iowa , Des Moines , says `` I felt like I was gon na die '' Of the $ $ $ $ prize , Kate Moore texts she 'll `` prlly spend a good amount of $ $ $ '' Text messaging competition includes texting while blindfolded .