Sometimes… our greatest accomplishments come after our greatest struggles.

Miss Illinois 2013, Brittany Smith shattered her hip bone just before her freshman year of high school.  That’s when Brittany had a choice to make.  From an online article from Purdue University…

          “Many people told me to retire and hang up my shoes. Those comments made me work really hard to achieve my goals. They made me stronger in the end.”

Ummm… It’s one thing to break an arm or a leg… but your hip???  Breaking your hip-bone is crazy!  And she was only 13 when it happened!  After the accident, Brittany went through intense rehab – and by the time she was 17, she competed and placed in the World Finals in Irish Step Dancing!  THAT’S the story of an over-comer if we ever heard one!  And that tells us all we need to know about Brittany Smith… she’ll be more than fine in the years to come after Miss Illinois – and we look forward to watching her succeed in whatever she chooses to do.  🙂

So – Who’s going to be able to fill Brittany’s shoes?  Ummm… Well… To be honest… We don’t really know.  Although there are several ladies who have experience returning to the stage, it feels like a pretty wide-open race this year…

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Emily Travis – Top 10 ’11, IL OT ’08
Marisa Buchheit – 3rd runner up ’13, Top 10 12, 2nd runner up OH ’10
Natalie Swieca – NAM IL ’12, Top 10 at Nationals 
Amanda Goerlitz – 4th RU ’13
Audra Ferguson – Top 10 ’12 and ’13
Kaitlin Wehr – IL OT ’10, Top 10 ’13
Rayni Lasley – Prelim SS ’13, IL USA Top 15 ’13 and ’12,
Caitlin Robb – Interview award ’13
Not one, not two, but THREE Junkie Dark Horses in this race…
     – Rebecca Palmer
     – Ariel Beverly
     – Natalie Schmidt

GOOD LUCK LADIES FROM THE LAND OF LINCOLN!!! 🙂  JUNKIES LOVE YA!!! 🙂

MAJ

So – in nearly every one of these blogs, we take the time to tell you about “Miss State” and give you all the reasons why we think she’s so lovely/fabulous/awesome.  But it’s a heck of a lot more fun to find someone who’s written a ‘little ditty’ about Miss State – and let them tell you about her instead!

Enter Charissa Lauren and her “Monday Muse” blog… as she talks about Miss Pennsylvania 2013, Annie Rosellini…

          “When meeting Annie, you are immediately graced with her contagious personality. Annie is one of those girls that holds an inner light and shines the moment she speaks to anyone! With a smile that sticks with you and an even bigger heart, Annie has represented our state these last few months with the utmost charm and grace.”

WOWZERS!  If you’re trying to win your state pageant, may we kindly suggest memorizing that paragraph?  What a ringing endorsement!  If you wanna be Miss America, that’s the kind of impression you should have on each and every person you meet! 🙂

Annie could’ve easily become someone less than the delightful description above… Just before her High School graduation, she lost her father to heart disease.  But instead of getting lost in the pain, she decided to make it her mission to tell others about the dangers of heart disease.  Annie traveled the state as Miss Pennsylvania, talking to children and adults about ways to keep your heart healthy allowing you to ‘stick around’ longer for the ones you love.

Kudos Annie!  Junkies think you’re lovely/fabulous/awesome. 🙂

Who could possibly fill Annie’s shoes in 2014?  GOOD QUESTION!  Pennsylvania is LOADED with potential this year – lots of experience – and this level of competition means PA could be a player in the near future!  Pay Attention!  Anyone can win this thing!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Caroline Collins – 2nd runner up ’13, 1st runner up PA OT ’10, NAM PA Teen ’10
Kaitlynne Kline – PA OT ’11
Jocelyn Gruber – PA OT ’09
Cassie Cerulli – Top 11 ’13 and ’12, 2nd runner up PA OT ’10
Holly Harrar – Top 15 PA Teen USA ’11 and ’12, NAM PA Jr. Teen ’08
Alex Taylor-Dietz – Top 11 ’13, 1st runner up PA Teen USA ’12, ’13 and ’14
Jessica McCullough – OT and State competitor at TN, 1st time at PA
Laura Traub – Top 11 ’13
Francesca Rusio – Top 11 ’13
Melessie Clark – Non-finalist Talent and Interview ’13, Prelim Talent ’13
Bryn Harvey – Prelim Talent ’10 and ’11, Top 10 ’11

LOTS OF NEWBIES COULD MAKE WAVES TOO!!!  GOOD LUCK LADIES!!!

MAJ

Hey Junkies!

Even though we’re ferociously combing through oodles and oodles of materials, desperately researching as many contestants as we can before posting another round of state blogs, we thought we’d stop and ‘take inventory’ of the year so far.  After all, we’re the ones who claim to be Junkies!  Sure would be embarrassing if we weren’t any good at our job! 🙂

So – we went back to all of our blogposts thus far and tallied up our predictions verses the real results.  For example, of the Top 5 finishers at “Miss State” and the eventual winner of “Miss State” – how many were on our “Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch” list to begin with???  Hmmmm…. Here’s what we discovered…

The beginning of the State Pageant season was… not so pretty on our predictions…

Vermont – 3 for 5, missed the Winner
New Hampshire – 2 for 5, missed the Winner

Ugh – That’s a rough start right out of the gate!  But then – we picked up steam…

Alaska – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Wyoming – 3 for 3, listed the Winner
New York – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Nevada – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Virgin Islands – We listed all 4 contestants – therefore, N/A

And now – here are the results from this most recent weekend…

Alabama – 5 for 5, listed the Winner
Nebraska – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Kansas – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Missouri – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
Oklahoma – 4 for 5, listed the Winner
North Dakota – 3 for 5, listed the Winner
Hawaii – 5 for 5, listed the Winner

That makes us 10 for 13 on State Winners – and 46 out of 63 overall!  WOW!  Even though we’re only 77% on picking state winners – even we were surprised to see we were 73% on picking Top 5 finishers!!!

Good Thing!  We needed some serious encouragement to PUSH THROUGH these state blog posts… There are still 34 more states to crown in June alone – and 39 more states to crown before we’re all through!!!

We realize we may fall flat on our face from here on out – lol!  After all, last year, there were nearly 1400 contestants who participated at the State level (which is A LOT of googling in a short period of time!).  And when you have blog after state blog that has to come out before prelims, it’s tempting to ‘slack’ a bit on researching contestants… But we will stay the course!  Junkies Don’t Quit! 🙂

So – in summary, here’s one more reminder… Fellow Junkies… This is supposed to be FUN!  If we don’t list your favorite girl, it doesn’t mean she isn’t good enough, it doesn’t mean she’s not pretty enough, it doesn’t mean she’s not worthy and can’t win the title… It only means, WE’RE NOT PERFECT!!!  That’s it!  Obviously, your girl can still win your state or make the Top 5 (see above!)  If you prefer not to follow these blogposts with our lists, that’s ok… We’re more than happy to have you stick to the Facebook Page or Twitter Feed… No problem at all.  But if you wanna take this silly journey with us – then let’s see how the next few weeks play out – and HAVE FUN DOING IT!!!

Thanks everyone!  If you’re curious as to how we choose girls for our “Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch” List – then feel free to check out some of our previous posts here…

Junkies Top 10 FAQ Part 1
Junkies Top 10 FAQ Part 2
Junkies Top 5 States 2013
History of Junkie “State Blog Picks”
Basic Background and History of MAJ

OK – 10 more states to crown NEXT WEEKEND — AND — THE JUNKIES ARE HEADED TO MISS MINNESOTA!!!!!!  Whoooooooooo Hooooooooooooo!!!  Can’t wait to meet all of our fans and supporters in the Land of 10,000 Lakes (or at the Mall of America – whichever is easier!)  Of course, we’ll give you play by play coverage of everything taking place in MN and across the country!!!

JUNKIES UNITE!!!

MAJ

You never know how or when ones Miss America journey is going to start…

Laura Harmon, Miss North Dakota 2013 decided to try pageants when one of her Kappa Alpha Theta sorority sisters heard her sing.  The rest is history 🙂

Although it took Laura 4 attempts to win the state crown, she gained valuable experience that will will remain with her throughout the rest of her life.  “I’ve learned a lot about perseverance and personal growth,” said Harmon. “I’ve discovered who I want to be.”

In addition to growing and maturing into Miss North Dakota, Laura reminds everyone – your win isn’t the end of the road – it’s just the beginning!
         
          “Winning a pageant is easy.  Wanting to win a job and wanting to win a crown are two very different things”

And who will be the next woman to wear the North Dakota crown???  Well – it could be interesting… There are lots and lots of girls with potential – and plenty with experience… 

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Megan McDougall – 2nd runner up ’12, 1st runner up in ’13, prelim interview and SS ’13
Jacky Arness – 2nd runner up ’13, ND DYW (Jr. Miss) ’11 – Top 10 and interview winner
Annika Vernon – National Young Woman of Distinction by the Girl Scouts, Top 10 ’13
Faye Stromburg – Top 10 ’13, prelim talent ’13
Kacie Chatwood – Top 10 13, high score instrumental talent ’13
Cally Musland – Top 10 ’09 and ’13, prelim interview award ’13
Carlie Meehan – Top 10 ’13
Alyssa Ralston – related to Miss ND ’09 Katie Ralston

JUNKIES LOVE NORTH DAKOTA!!!  ALL THE BEST!!! 🙂

MAJ

Nearly every state queen we know would agree that being “Miss State” for an entire year, changes you.  In the case of Miss Nebraska 2013 JaCee Pilkington, she was changed in a way she didn’t expect!  From a FABULOUS blog called “Anchors Away” – we found this interview between KETV news anchor and Miss Nebraska “Super Fan” Brandi Peterson and JaCee…

JaCee – spent her year promoting her platform, “Operation Remember Me” which honors veterans and those serving in our military.  All the best to JaCee as she passes the Miss NE crown this week 🙂

And speaking of… Holy Schmoley!!!  There are a LOT of girls who could take the Miss Nebraska crown this year!  Interview will be key – we have a feeling this one is going to be a nail biter!  If you wanna do your own research, check out Brandi Peterson’s blog here… she featured each of the Miss NE contestants with a separate post on her blog!  WE LOVED IT!!!  Take a peek and Enjoy!

Junkies Say Here’s Who to Watch:

Rachel Foehlinger – 1st runner up ’13, 2nd runner up ’12, 3rd runner up ’11, NE OT ’08,
Aleah Peters – 2nd runner up ’13, featured twirler at UNL
Megan Dimmitt – 3rd runner up ’13
Mindy Schreiber – 1st runner up ’11 and ’12
Staci Craighead – Miss NE OT ’10
Lilianna Prill – Miss NE OT ’12
Chrissy Townsend – NAM Nebraska Teen ’09
Allison Tietjen – MAJ Dark Horse

ALL THE BEST TO THOSE IN HUSKER NATION!!!  GOOD LUCK!!!

MAJ