Hello Again Junkie Nation! Look at all the beautiful ladies we crowned last night???
Before we get to pageants – Can I be honest for a second? I had one H – E – Double Hockey Stick of a week…
Normally, I work all week long on my Top 5 picks… Like – some of you might be embarrassed if you knew how much work I put into these lists… But it’s not just the top 5 lists for this week – I’m also working ahead in order to be prepared for next week’s picks! Further, I make sure everything is “Just Right” before I release each state blog honoring the outgoing state titleholder (thank God I’ve been working on those since late April or I’d never make it!).
But last week – Life did not go as I had planned.
Last week, my parent’s basement flooded. As in, 350 gallons of water, soaking everything inside, flooded. Therfore, my family “called in re-encforcements” in order to get everything out of the basement, asap.
So – instead of calmly researching, doing my insane amount of “googling” and working ahead – I was marching up and down stairs, emptying over 4200 pounds of costumes and other “stuff” from my parent’s basement (not a typo – 4200 pounds – and I would say “stuff” is putting it nicely). In the end, I was exhausted. Four days – asleep at 1am – 2am every night – and one whale of a leg workout.
Therefore – I apologize if this pageant week didn’t seem to have the normal level of “Pizzazz” you’ve come to expect from Pageant Junkies… I’m afraid I was a little short on the “Pizzazz” department – and a little pooped with predictions.
Whew! OK – Thanks for indulging me in that mini-therapy session…
Now let’s talk pageants!
Before we get to the 10 state pageants last night – We need to update everyone on the pageant that took place last Sunday, before last week’s Weekend Wrap Up was posted… The new Miss DC is Cierra Jackson!
MISS DC – CIERRA JACKSON
1st RU – Shannon Lynch
2nd RU – Katelynn Cox
3rd RU – Ceclia Daizovi
4th RU – Elena Littles
And now – Let’s chat about the 10 pageants which took place last night! Starting with…
MISS NORTH CAROLINA – McKENZIE FAGGART
1st RU – Mallory Outen
2nd RU – Kacy Lee
3rd RU – Victoria Huggins
4th RU – Deandra Easter
MISS PENNSYLVANIA – SAMANTHA LAMBERT
1st RU – Katie Carlson
2nd RU – Cassie Cerulli
3rd RU – Nia Andrews
4th RU – Holly Harrar
MISS VIRGINIA – MICHAELA SIGMON
1st RU – Harlie Dale
2nd RU – Lauren Mitchell
3rd RU – Taylor Reynolds
4th RU – Olivia Shedd
MISS SOUTH CAROLINA – RACHEL WYATT
1st RU – Suzi Roberts
2nd RU – Christal Potter
3rd RU – Anna Mills Polatty
4th RU – Sydney Ford
MISS WISCONSIN – COURTNEY PELOT
1st RU – Madeline Kumm
2nd RU – Sarah Newton
3rd RU – Gina Miaccala
4th RU – Tianna Vanderlei
MISS LOUISIANA – JUSTINE KER
1st RU – Holli Conway
2nd RU – Emily Randon
3rd RU – Brianna Collier
4th RU – Alexandra Gulino
MISS MISSISSIPPI – LAURA LEE LEWIS
1st RU – Anne Elizabeth Buys
2nd RU – Molly May
3rd RU – Holly Harrington
4th RU – Mia Hall
MISS MARYLAND – HANNAH BREWER DELL
1st RU – Stephanie Meadowcroft
2nd RU – Mary Teal Mulligan
3rd RU – Sarah Robinson
4th RU – Shea Sullivan
MISS WYOMING – JORDYN HALL
1st RU – Angela Thomas
2nd RU – Mili Dawson
MISS ARIZONA – KATELYN NIEMIEC
1st RU – Lauren McBurnett
2nd RU – Madie Rose Holler
3rd RU – Jordyn Owen
4th RU – Hannah Morgan
WOWZERS! OK – Here’s a couple of items to note from last night…
– Big night for Clemson! Miss Clemson, Rachel Wyatt is the latest former MAOTeen National winner to hit the Miss America stage (Caitlyn Brunell being the first), AND the Miss Clemson team won both the Miss SC and Miss SC OT titles in ‘Famously Hot Columbia’ last night! In fact, 4 of the last 5 Miss SC titleholders have come from C – L – E – M – S – O…. N! (DANG!)!
– Teen Continue to shine… Of the 10 titles awarded last night, 5 of the winners were former state MAO Teen winners! SC, AZ, MS, LA and NC! That makes TWELVE former MAOTeen state winners headed to Miss America this year (ME, NH, NV, NY, DE, NJ, IN, SC, AZ, MS, LA, NC)!
– In the category of “It’s All Relative”… MISS LA Justine Ker is cousins with former Miss CA and first runner up at Miss America, Crystal Lee! Also – MISS MD Hannah Brewer Dell is the sister of former Miss PA 2005, Nicole Brewer!
– MISS NC McKenzie Faggart wins the “all or nothing” award this week… After being a former Miss NC OT, McKenzie was the 1st RU her first year at Miss NC, before coming back the second year and winning prelim SS, but not finishing in the Top 10 at all. This year, she takes the whole darn thing! Congrats McKenzie!
Of course, there are additional stories – but those are just a few quick highlights for today’s post!
Now – given the fact that we were much more occupied with “flooding” than we were with “pageant picks” – Let’s see how this weekend shaped up for us at Pageant Junkies…
MISS DC – 3/5
picked Cierra Jackson, Shannon Lynch, Katelynn Cox
NORTH CAROLINA – 1/5
picked Victoria Huggins
MISS VIRGINIA – 2/5
picked Michaela Simon and Harlie Dale
WISCONSIN – 1/5
picked Sarah Newton
LOUISIANA – 2/5
picked Justine Ker and Emily Randon
SOUTH CAROLINA – 3/5
picked Rachel Wyatt, Suzi Roberts, Anna Mills Polatty
MISSISSIPPI – 2/5
picked Laura Lee Lewis and Anne Elizabeth Buys
PENNSYLVANIA – 2/5
picked Samantha Lambert and Cassie Cerulli
MARYLAND – 4/5
picked Hannah Brewer, Stephanie Meadowcroft, Sarah Robinson, Mary Teal Mulligan
WYOMING – 2/3
picked Jordyn Hall and Angela Thomas
ARIZONA – 3/5
picked Katelyn Neimiec, Madie Rose Holler, Hannah Morgan
As you can see, when it was good – it was good! But when it was bad, we were WAY off track! We missed NC and WI – and in both cases, only picked 1 of the Top 5 (Oh – and for the record, please know McKenzie and Courtney, that you were both on our short list! But for some silly reason we put someone else in the top 5 instead!).
Also – in complete disclosure, we picked 5 names for Miss WY and they only offered a total of 2 runners up and a winner… Of the 3 names, we only had 2 out of the 3.
SO! Adding in the results from Miss DC (not previously counted) plus the 10 pageants last night, here’s what we know…
We finished 25/52 and only missed 2 state winners (NC and WI). That makes us 82% in picking state winners this weekend – but a dismal 48% in picking the Top 5. Maybe that whole flood thing was rough on us after all!
When you add in the cumulative total of how we’ve done thus far, here’s where we land…
34/42 = 81%
(Identifying Winners)
109/204 = 53%
(Identifying Top 5 finishers)
And of course, WE’RE NOT DONE YET!!! There are 10 more pageants to go… WV and PR (both today/Sunday), along with TX, CA, KY, MA, FL, OR and WA next weekend… And then AR on July 9th!
Therefore – now is the time to PRESS ON – Regardless of what comes my way this week! The class of Miss America 2017 is not yet complete – Which means it’s time to hunker-down and FINISH STRONG!!!
By the way, in case you’ve missed any of our “Weekend Wrap-Up” posts like this one – just click here to catch up… And if you wanna see who we’re picking for the 8 states coming up next week, you can still receive our predictions by learning more here…
OH! And for every amazing woman who proved us right last night – Congratulations!
And for every amazing woman who PROVED US WRONG LAST NIGHT –
#BIGJUNKIEKUDOS to YOU!!!
If we say your name, we hope you prove us right!
And if we don’t say your name, we hope you prove us wrong!
Until next week –
#BigJunkieLove
Carrie Lakey