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 Dogwood Kennedy Holland won the Preliminary Talent Award. For winning Talent, she will receive a $2,000 scholarship provided by F.A.D.D. (Families Against Distracted Driving) Foundation. She performed a vocal to “Bridge Over Troubled Water” for her talent.
Miss Metro Cori Keller won the Preliminary Evening Gown Award. She will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Evening Gown provided by Emerge and Renee Stone.
Miss Ouachita Baptist University Haley Shourd won the Preliminary Health and Fitness Award. She will receive a $500 scholarship for winning Health and Fitness provided by Pafford Health Services.
Miss Apple Blossom Kelsie Everett 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 Pagean
t 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 – South Arkansas’ Teen Mallory Stuckey. She performed a tap dance to “The Way You Make Me Feel” for her talent.
· Preliminary Evening Gown Award -$250 scholarship sponsored by Hannah Wright from The Royal We: Greater Jacksonville’s Teen Kinley Atkinson
· Preliminary Fitness Award - $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Organization – Greater Jonesboro’s Teen Sophie Puckett
Additional Miss Arkansas Scholarship Winners announced were:
Alpha Private Health and Fitness Award, in the amount of the $500 given by Traci Hogue / Fence Brokers and the family of Marty Walker – Arkansas State University Riley Strube
Alpha On Stage Conversation Award, in the amount of $500 given by Zenstudio Fayetteville – Arkansas State University Riley Strube
Alpha Talent Award, in the amount of $500, given by Alix Butler Allegro – Dogwood Kennedy Holland
Alpha Evening Gown Award, in the amount of $500, given by Hannah Wright at The Royal We – Historic Batesville Camille Cathey
Service Above Self Award for Alpha Group, in the amount of $500 given by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association - Greater Jonesboro Erin Davis
Overall Arrival Award, in the amount of $1,000 given by E.Leigh’s Boutique – River City Makenzie Williams
Marty Walker Memorial Award, in the amount of $1,000 given by Traci Hogue / Fence Brokers and the family of Marty Walker – Northeast Arkansas Piper Stallings
Jessie Ward Bennett Leadership Award, in the amount of $650 given by Bill Tarkington & Mike Spivey – Sweetheart of Arkansas Dawn Coffman
Alpha Private Interview for the Alpha Group, in the amount of $500 given by Brandi Adams / Zenstudio Fayetteville – Arkansas State University Riley Strube
Additional Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen Awards given this afternoon were:
Teens in Action Finalists - $100 scholarship each sponsored by Miss Arkansas’ Teen 2018 Camille Cathey:
Greater Jonesboro’s Teen Sophie Puckett
Metro’s Teen Mae Armstrong
Lights of the Delta Teen Carissa Joy Callicott
Historic Batesville’s Teen Kennedy Johnson
Alpha Fitness Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Organization – River City’s Teen Rylee Kendrix
Alpha Evening Gown Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association: Greater Jacksonville’s Teen Kinley Atkinson
Alpha Talent Award – $250 scholarship sponsored by the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association – Grand Prairie’s Teen Kaylea Chastain. For her talent she performed a tap dance to “I Will Survive.”
Additional information on the Teen and Miss 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. Competition continues with preliminaries on Thursday. Miss Arkansas’ Teen preliminaries begin at 3:00 p.m. and Miss begins at 7:00 p.m.
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.