Preliminary competition continued on the second night of the 85th Annual Miss Arkansas Competition at Robinson Center in Little Rock where 91 contestants are competing to become Miss Arkansas and Miss Arkansas’ Teen 2023 and over $227,000 in scholarships.
Miss Greater Jacksonville Nia Renee Kelley won the Preliminary Talent Award. For winning Talent, she will receive a $2,000 scholarship provided by the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Foundation, Miss Arkansas 2011 Kristen Glover Belew & Barrett Belew and Ned Metcalf. She performed a vocal to “Queen of the Night Aria” for her talent.
Miss River Valley Callie Scherrey won the Preliminary Evening Gown Award. She will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Evening Gown provided by Emerge and Renee Stone.
Miss Boomtown Blair Wortsmith won the Preliminary Health and Fitness Award. She will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Health and Fitness provided by Traci Hogue / Fence Brokers and the family of Marty Walker.
Miss Ouachita River Melody Stotts won the Preliminary On-Stage Conversation Award. She will receive a $1000 scholarship for winning On-Stage Conversation provided by Traci Lewellen in honor of Miss Arkansas 2019/2020 Darynne Dahlem.
For more information on our preliminary winners please visit missarkansas.org. Emcees for this year’s Miss Arkansas Competition are Chris Kane and Miss Arkansas 2009 Sarah Slocum Collins.
Ashton Campbell Gill was the emcee for the Miss Arkansas’ Teen Pageant held during the afternoon. She was Miss Arkansas 2014 and 2nd Runner Up to Miss America, as well as Miss Arkansas’ Outstanding Teen 2011.
Miss Arkansas 2022 Ebony Mitchell and Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen 2022 Ka’Mya Tackett were on hand to present the awards.
Preliminary Awards given in this afternoon’s Teen Competition were:
· Preliminary Talent Award - $333 scholarship sponsored by Classic Cutters & F.A.D.D. (Families Against Distracted Driving) Foundation – Greater Little Rock’s Teen Bella Crowe She performed a vocal to “O Mio Bambino Caro” for her talent.
· Preliminary Evening Gown Award -$250 scholarship sponsored by Hannah Wright from The Royal We: Southwest Arkansas’ Teen Chloe Hargis
· Preliminary Fitness Award - $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Organization – Ouachita River’s Teen Allie Bell
Additional Miss Arkansas Scholarship Winners announced were:
Claudia Raffo Enhance Arkansas Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Paula Raffo – White River Kaelin Clay
The Ebony Mitchell Mentoring Matters Award - $250 scholarship sponsored by Michael, Toni and Thomas Gray Lindsey – Central Arkansas Ciara Callicott
Stephanie Green Teachers Make Teachers Award - $1500 scholarship sponsored by Jared and Stephanie Green – Ouachita River Melody Stotts
Asher Ray Mentor Award - $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Miss Arkansas 2017 Maggie Benton Counce – Ouachita Baptist University Haley Shourd
Sharon Evans Bale “We Are More” Award - $1,200 scholarship sponsored by Bill Tarkington and Mike Spivey – White River Kaelin Clay
Christie Jones Alexander “Don’t Limit Me” Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Christie Jones Alexander – Arkansas Valley Katy Beth Dunn
Gaye Montgomery Spirit of Arkansas Award - $1,000 scholarship sponsored by Miss Arkansas 1995 Paula Montgomery Swindle – Sweetheart of Arkansas Dawn Coffman
Interview & Academic Excellence Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Leah Sexton / Sexton Firm – Ouachita River Melody Stotts
Medical Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Sherrye Craig Central Arkansas Pediatrics, P.A. – Conway – River Valley Callie Scherrey
Service Above Self (Sigma Group) - $500 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association – Arkansas Tech University Hannah Lomax
Alpha Interview (Sigma Group) - $500 scholarship sponsored by Dawn Bicker – Diamond Lakes Brooke Bradford
Alpha Private Health and Fitness Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Pafford Health Services – Boomtown Blair Wortsmith
Alpha On Stage Conversation Award, - $500 scholarship sponsored by Zenstudio Fayetteville and Brandi Adams – South Central Arkansas Bailey Gibson
Alpha Talent Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Miss Arkansas 2014 Ashton Campbell Gill – University of Central Arkansas Jada Simpson
Alpha Evening Gown Award - $500 scholarship sponsored by Hannah Wright at The Royal We – University of Arkansas Starling Ledbetter
Additional Miss Arkansas Teen Awards given this afternoon were:
Alpha Fitness Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Organization – Ozark Mountain’s Teen Delaney Reddell
Alpha Evening Gown Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association: Greater Hot Springs’ Teen Evelynn Kinsey
Alpha Talent Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association – Johnson County’s Teen GraceAnne Morgan
For her talent she performed a musical theatre piece to “I’m the Greatest Star.”
Overall Arrival Award - $300 scholarship sponsored by Steamroller Blues – Northeast Arkansas’ Teen Shawna Whitehurst
#KissHeartDiseaseGoodbye Award 1st Place - $700 scholarship sponsored by KISS Products – Natural State’s Teen Stevie St. John
#KissHeartDiseaseGoodbye Award 2nd Place - $400 scholarship sponsored by KISS Products – Arkansas Valley’s Teen Allison Frazier
#KissHeartDiseaseGoodbye Award 3rd Place - $400 scholarship sponsored by KISS Products – Diamond Lake’s Teen Makaya Ferguson
More information on our contestants can be found at missarkansas.org.
This year’s Miss Arkansas Scholarship Competition celebrates the 85th Year of the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Competition. The show features 47 Miss Candidates and 44 Teen contestants from around the state who are competing for over $227,000 in scholarships. Final competition for the Teens will be Friday, June 9th . The crowning for Miss Arkansas 2023 is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. Saturday, June 10th live on KARK / KNWA.
For ticket information please visit www.ticketmaster.com or the Robinson Center box office. For those who can’t attend the 2023 Miss Arkansas competition you can watch each preliminary competition using the link at www.missarkansas.org.