Sparkles everywhere you look. The Miss and Outstanding Teen Scholarship Pageant at Donor Auditorium. Twenty contestants competed on Feb. 23rd.

Calista Kirby, Miss South Dakota 2012, was the hostess of the pageant. Special appearances were made by Tessa Dee, Miss South Dakota 2013, and Nina Mesteth, Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen 2013.  

Preparations for the pageant have been the main focus for the girls. 

“Well, I decided to do the pageant about six weeks prior to the actual competition, so I started preparing right away,” said Miss Brookings winner Julia Olson.  “…I started getting all of my attire put together–from the swimsuit to the interview dress to the evening gown. I also got really into current events and practiced interview questions a lot.”

Earlier in the day each contestant met with a judge for one-on-one interviews. According to Kirby, that counts for 25 percent of the contestants score. The rest of the score is divided into swimswear, which is 15 percent, lifestyle and fitness at 10 percent, the talent portion is 35 percent, eveningwear is 20 percent, and the on-stage question counts for 5 percent. At the end of the competition the auditors add up all of the scores and the winner is announced. 

The first competition that took place was the Miss Swimsuit competition where the judges look for a “sense of confidence,” Kirby said. It’s important for the contestants to have a healthy body, and for them to be confident in their walks across stage. 

The teen host, Nina Mesteth, Miss South Dakota’s Outstanding Teen 2013, introduced the question part for the teen contestants. Each contestant was asked a different question that relates to them. 

Tessa Dee, Miss South Dakota 2013, introduced the Miss Talent competition. According to Kirby the judges looked for technical skills, body language, and costumes.

Julia Olson was crowned Miss Brookings with Kristy Kayser as the runner-up. Carrie Wintle was crowned Miss Dakota Plains. Runner-up to Miss Dakota Plains was Megan Lipp, and contestant Jamie McKinney was crowned Miss SDSU. Her drumming skills won her the crown. Runner-up to Miss SDSU was Ruth Latterell. 

Every Miss has different roles. “As Miss Brookings, I am excited get to know the community of Brookings and serve in many different places. I will also get to advance my platform issue, Partners in Success: Involving Families and Communities in Education,” Olson said.

All of the girls that received crowns won because of their mashed up skills of talent, swimwear, questions and eveningwear.