Piper Stockel must be a complete sweetheart!  As one of the 2013 contestants who ‘got hooked’ on visits with kids from the Children’s Miracle Network hospital visits, Piper met, Jakob.  Then, Jakob asked Piper to his Senior Prom… and Piper accepted.  This photo from Prom Night was posted on the Miss America Facebook Fan Page and garnered nearly 3000 ‘likes’, 116 shares and 65 comments!  Piper’s caption read, “15 years old and through 54 surgeries… ‘Amen’ to his positive spirit!”

In our opinion, Piper was also one of the best lyrical dancers at Miss America this year… as evidenced by this amazing leap! As a first time competitor to Miss Arizona, we know this year has been full of twists and turns for Piper, but we also have an extreme amount of confidence in her ability to excel at whatever she chooses to do in life!

Now – on to this year’s competition… which is interesting to say the least!  A ‘wide open’ event that could be won by any number of girls this year… including:

 Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

– Brittany Mazur – 1st Runner up in ’12, 3rd Runner up at Miss Sweetheart, AZ OT ’06, former American Idol contestant
– Meredith Winnefeld – Colorado OT ’11, finished in Top 10 at MAOT, featured twirler at ASU
– Katelyn Niemiec – AZ OT ’09, another twirler
– Andrea Malinkski – former Miss AZ pre-teen, Miss AZ Jr. Teen
– Jennifer Smestad – young, beautiful, good talent
– Victoria Hume – former Miss MD and Miss MD USA contestant

Junkies Love Arizona!!!  All the Best!!! 🙂

So many things we never knew about Miss Wisconsin, Kate Gorman… From News8000.com…

          “Six weeks before the Miss Wisconsin competition I was practicing my dance and I went up for a side leap and severely injured my hip. And found out I had torn the labrum in my hip. So I had to drastically dumb down my tap routine.  What I had to do was give everything I had. I left in on the stage. Yes I was in pain – but I did it.”
          But she couldn’t do it any more, at least not without surgery. “And there just frankly wasn’t enough time to recover.”
          But to compete in the Miss America pageant you have to showcase a talent and unable to dance, she shifted her focus to singing. “There’s so many instances in life when it give you lemons and you make lemonade. We face the music in a great way. I also love singing too, it’s just a fear that I’ve had to overcome. Completely switching gears four months before the biggest job interview in my life is kind of scary. I can’t wait to showcase my talent on the Miss America stage.”

Wowzers.  It’s one thing to choose to change your talent before Miss America… it’s quite another to be forced to do it because you can’t physically handle it.  Very impressive, Kate… Your ability to ‘do whatever you have to do’ will take you far. 🙂

Regarding Miss Wisconsin 2013… let’s just say we’ve got ‘newbies’ running out our ears.  And while it may not be the very first time for some of these contestants, it certainly is for the majority of the girls we researched!  Plus – there are a lot of instrumental talents this year… We’ll admit, we’re not super confident about our predictions here – but that’s why we play the game!  Here we go!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:
Racquel Brunning – 3rd runner up ’12, clarinet talent,
Caitlin Schober – Carthage grad, Saxaphone talent,
Colleen Mroteck – Top 10 in ’12, chello talent
Paula Kuiper – Top 10 in ’12 and “Spirit of Miss America” award, piano

ALL THE BEST, LADIES!!!  GOOD LUCK!!!

MAJ

Junkie Favorite Joanna Guy was everything we expected and more at Miss America.  Her Top 10 finish, Prelim Talent award and 1st runner up finish in the Quality of Life awards gave her $15,500 in scholarships at Miss America!  On JoAnna’s website, she says she’s earned over $40,000 in scholarships thanks to her involvement in the Miss America system.  As a Senior at Cornell University majoring in Government, we’re absolutely certain you haven’t heard the last from Joanna Guy.  

Now – Here’s what we know about Miss Maryland… There is NO CLEAR LEADER in this race.. And our list reflects a lot of names of ladies who could win.  We’ll have to see who shows up prepared for the job and who takes the crown come Saturday night! 

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch: 

– Hannah Mollerick – Top 10 ’12, 4th runner up in ’10 and ’11, National Sweetheart in ’10, MD OT ’06
– Stephanie Meadowcraft – Top 10 ’12, MD OT in ’09, Miss MD International in ’09, Delaware Teen America in ’06
– Jade Kenny – Top 10 in ’11
– Christina Denny – 2nd runner up ’12, Top 10 in ’10
– Dana Thomas – 3rd runner up in ’11, Maryland Teen America ’06
– Kendall Smith – Top 10 in ’12, Miss AL International ’12
– Whitney Colombo – Top 10 in ”07, 08 and ’09
– Elissa Taylor – 4th Runner up Miss Virginia ’12, strong platform
– Mae Alexander – Miss MD Earth US ’11, Miss Congeniality in ’12

ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE AT MISS MARYLAND!!!  GOOD LUCK, LADIES!!!

MAJ

Kara Arnold might not have been on many people’s radars at Miss America – but she was on ours!  We loved her STEM platform and thought she had one of the best contestant videos (in case you don’t remember it, we re-posted it here!).  We loved how she was able to weave her personality into her video – allowing us to see every aspect of who she is.  We know this future medical student has big things ahead of her – and we wish her all the best!

Ok – now, can we be honest for a moment?  Ummm… Miss Utah… is consistently one of the most difficult pageants to predict.  Why?  Well, they usually have a large group of ‘pageant rookies’ each year, coupled with a large pool of contestants (44 this year) which makes research a bit tricky.  Additionally, Miss Utah’s most recent Miss America (Sharlene Wells) won on her first time to Miss Utah – and we occasionally wonder if that’s the ‘secret sauce’ for Utah girls.  So – without further adieu, here’s our best shot at picking a few names…

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:  

– Ciera Pekarick – 2nd runner up in ’12, 2nd runner up in 11, prelim swimsuit both years
– Victoria Pozzuoli – Been dancing for 18 years
– Chelsi Lukens – Strong Vocalist
– Vanessa Watson – Top 10 ’12
– Krissa Beatty Top 10 in ’12

ALL THE BEST TO EVERYONE AT MISS UTAH!!! 🙂

Rather than The Junkies trying to tell you about the impact Miss Ohio, Elissa McCracken made on people via her platform this year, we thought we’d let someone else do the talking.  This segment is from a blogpost dated December 3rd, 2012 on SMMSGuidance.blogspot.com:

       “Elissa came to our school, St. Mary’s Middle School, and spoke to the girls about her motto “Stop, Block, and Tell.” The girls just soaked it up! They realized there would be less drama if they did those three simple things in response to cyberbullying. Along with speaking, Elissa signed over 250 pictures for each girl to own so if they were victimized by cyberbullying they would know that she had experienced it herself. The photo was a reminder that Elissa “beat the bullies,” and would, at least figuratively, stand by their side. If she could do it, she had told the girls, they could to.
           
      Alot of these things done here at SMMS have transpired and been put into place because Elissa McCracken decided not to be brought down by cyberbullying.  My girls are still creating posters and decorating the hallways with Elissa’s positive message. They are leaving inspiring sticky notes on other student’s lockers. A change of character is beginning to show in these young girls’ lives and within our school’s culture.  All of this, because a young woman had a devastating experience and turned it into an inspiring challenge and ray of hope for others.“

I do believe that’s what we call, “Making an Impact” 🙂  Who will get the chance to do the same as Miss Ohio 2013?

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Alyssa Brumbaugh – 1st runner up ’12, 1st runner up ’11
Mahogany Flemming – 4th runner up 12, Prelim Talent
Meggie Wittman – 3rd runner up, Prelim Swimsuit ’11, Top 10 ’10, 1st Runner up OH Jr. Miss ’07
Heather Wells – Top 10 in ’12, Prelim Swimsuit
Cayla Hellwarth – non-finalist talent ’10, Top 10 ’12
Mackenzie Bart – current “Miss Clayland” – the local that’s won 3 out of the last 5 Miss Ohio’s
Kara Mitchell – One of only a few ‘open’ lesbians competing at the state level this year
Kelsey Barrett – Strong Talent, Miss Ohio OT ’11, Top 15 at MAOT

GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE COMPETING AT MISS OHIO!!!

MAJ