Editor
Two area Miss Wisconsin pageant contestants had such a good time during their weeklong trip to Oshkosh for the event that they’re already looking forward to taking part in their next one.
A 2005 Holmen High School graduate now studying at Viterbo University, Smaby reached the top 10 in the 28-contestant field. The honor came as a complete shock to her, she said, as her name was the last name read at Saturday evening’s pageant and she just didn’t think there was room for her in the top 10 with all the returning pageant veterans in the mix.
Smaby’s facial expression on hearing her name called for the top 10 was so striking that a photograph of her at that moment made the front page of the Oshkosh Northwestern, running bigger than the photo of pageant winner, Miss Berlin Meghan Coffey.
Smaby was the youngest one in the top 10, a 19-year-old among a lot of 23-year-olds. While she performed her ballet dance, “Storm,” the best she’d ever done it in the Friday preliminary, Smaby said she thought it was more an all-around score than a high talent score that got her in the top 10.
Making the top 10 meant a $500 scholarship for Smaby, and she also got $300 for winning the Spirit of Miss America Award and $200 for recruiting the most donors for the pageant blood drive. The donors came from a large contingent of family, friends and dance students who made the trip to Oshkosh to support Smaby.
Ekern, a West Salem High School graduate who will start dental hygiene studies at Western Technical College in the fall, also had a large cheering section in Oshkosh. While she didn’t make the top 10, she did win a health science scholarship and came away feeling like she had done everything as well as could be done, particularly her performance of “I Can’t Do It Alone” from the musical, “Chicago.”
“I nailed everything,” Ekern said. “I walked away feeling really good about myself.”
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A long-time dancer who teaches classes at Misty’s Dance Unlimited, Smaby said the choreography for the pageant’s production numbers was “incredibly hard,” and she found herself coaching other contestants on how to do the dances.
‘I was ‘Miss Kristina’ the whole time,” she said, referring to the name her dance students here call her.
In a way, the Miss Wisconsin pageant felt a little familiar to Smaby. The emcee for the state pageant was Kellye Cash, the one-time Miss America who also emceed the Miss Holmen Pageant last August when Smaby was crowned.
All in all, the experience for the two was overwhelmingly positive. “It was one of the most fun times of my life,” Ekern said. “I’d love to experience it again.”
Ekern said she plans to enter other local pageants to try to get another shot at becoming Miss Wisconsin, who represents the state in the Miss America Pageant. She said she probably will take a year off, though, so she can concentrate on her studies.
Smaby, on the other hand, said she is almost positive she will enter the Miss La Crosse Oktoberfest pageant this fall after crowning her Miss Holmen successor in August. Her goal, she said, is to win the Miss La Crosse Oktoberfest and Miss Onalaska titles. And after her experience at the state pageant Saturday, she said she felt like winning the Miss Wisconsin title is a possibility.
“We’ll see what God has in store for me,” she said. “God has a plan for each and every one of us and that will prevail over time.”
Contact Randy Erickson at randy.erickson@lee.net or 786-6812.
TKPN
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