Miss Science wins Miss USU pageant
As part of A-Week, the Miss USU Pageant was held Thursday as nine women participated in the four sections – Hollywood, talent, nightgown and question and answer – competing for the Miss USU title. At the end of the night, Laura Mortenson, Miss Science, was crowned Miss USU 2013.
“It feels a little unreal. It just makes me really happy because getting to represent the school is such an honor,” Mortenson said. “I love my education here and the people and getting to represent it is such an honor.”
Mortenson, who is originally from North Logan, is a junior majoring in Biochemistry. She loves volleyball, basketball, Latin dance and Spanish and has studied abroad in Chile.
“Once I was nominated I had to figure out what to wear, rented my dresses, practiced the piano for my talent, made sure I had the song memorized, and I had to think of the Hollywood person, I chose Mary Poppins, which was the hardest part in my opinion because we had to come up with someone who our personality reflected,” Mortenson said. “So it was kind of a lot of work especially with my school work, but in the end it was totally worth it.”
The night began with a video introducing each of the nine girls to help the audience get to know them on a more personal level. Intermixed between the four categories two competitions were held to involve the audience. The winners were given $30 gift cards. The night was intended to be a family-friendly event.
The contestants were: Chelsey Leach as Miss Greek, Briauna Elwell as Miss Education, Amy Nelson as Miss Arts, Danielle Manley as Miss CHaSS, Laura Mortensen as Miss Science, Karlie Rupe as Miss Natural Resources, Paige Robinson as Miss Student Alumni Association, Emme Pugmire as Miss Business and Bri Maualaivao as Miss Diversity.
Each woman was nominated by the organization or school leaders for the college or group she was representing.
“They did great. They were definitely entertaining for everyone to see these girls who are talented and beautiful ladies,” said student body president Doug Fiefia, a junior majoring in Business Administration. “The program turned out to be less focused on outward beauty and more of inward, as well as with their involvement on campus.”
Each category had a winner who received a bouquet as well as a $50 gift card. The winners for each center were: Laura Mortenson as Miss Science for Best Talent, Amy Nelson as Miss Arts for Question and Answer, Paige Robinson as Miss SAA for Formal, and Bri Maualaivao as Miss Diversity for Hollywood.
“Each category was based on different things,” said Mallory Henderson, one of the pageant judges. “Each held a scale of one to seven and three categories within it that the judging was based on. The categories included confidence, creativity, originality, poise, and for the question and answer, literate and how good their answer and grammar was.”
Henderson is a freshman majoring in elementary education. She was crowned Miss Cache Valley a few months ago and will be continuing on to compete for Miss Utah in June.
Miss USU used to happen annually in the past, and Fiefia is anticipating it will once again be held on a yearly basis. Next year, the hope is that the pageant will be opened up for students to apply to be a contestant rather than having to be nominated through their college.
The Alumni Association, Vivint, S.E. Needham Jewlers, Plant Peddler and Grange Donation Fund sponsored the event. Vivint and the Alumni Association fund put together the $2,000 scholarship money for the winner of the pageant.
“I am so honored to be Miss USU and am excited for what this year has to offer,” Mortenson said. “Whatever I need to do, I’ll do to the best of my ability. I’ve never loved attention, but love being able to inspire people and that is my goal.”
– lori_schafer@yahoo.com