Miss Oklahoma Week 2018
Miss Oklahoma Opening Number "This is the Greatest Show" - Which is the truth!
Photo by Leigh Thompson Photography
I have been attending the Miss Oklahoma Pageant since I was a contestant in 2008, yes that's right, this year was my 10 year anniversary of my first appearance on the Miss Oklahoma stage! I can't believe it has actually been a decade! My friends and family know, that the first full week in June is always off limits because I wont be available. Now, I don't compete in the Miss division anymore (I aged-out and got married) but I did become a teen director. I love giving back to an organization that gave so much to me! Also, it's really fun!!
These are my girls! From left to right: Jordan Smith- Miss OKC, Sydney Massey- Miss OKC's Teen, Julianne Thomison- Miss Bricktown and Emily Faith- Miss Bricktown's Teen
This year saw some BIG changes to Miss Oklahoma and Miss America (the later I will discuss in a future blog post). Miss Oklahoma found a new home after 45 years at the ORU Maybee Center we moved to Paradise Cove at the RiverSpirit Resort and Casino. Now, the change was announced at the Mid-Winter Meeting so we knew it was coming, I was excited for the change but didn't know what it would mean to pageant week. How would the contestants handle sharing rooms? Would this cause schedule changes? What about the backstage area? Well, I have to say that the Paradise Cove at the RiverSpirit Resort and Casino is an AMAZING venue and new home for Miss Oklahoma!!!
I loved having everything in one building, the venue and stage itself was beautiful, I'm sure that there were scheduling and logistic issues that happened but I never noticed and the contestants seemed very happy with everything. And you know what, having to roll with changes and make things happen on the fly is part of being a great titleholder and what a great place to see that happen first hand. All-in-all, it was a great change and I LOVE it when Oklahoma businesses support this organization.
Now what you really want...results...
Teen Preliminary Results
1st Teen Prelims
Rookie & Overall Talent - Gabrielle Gore, Miss OCU's Teen
Activewear - Abby Billings, Miss Piedmont's Teen
Spirit Award - Sydney Massey, Miss OKC's Teen
2nd Teen Prelims
Rookie Talent - Reese Folmar, Miss Muskogee's Teen
Spirit Award - Mia-Lynne Smith, Miss Ada Teen
Overall Talent - Claire Grace, Miss Edmond LibertyFest's Teen
Activewear - Brianna Hill, Miss Oklahoma State Fair's Teen
Miss Preliminary Results
Prelim Night One
Rookie Talent (tie) - Abigail Chitwood, Miss Ada and Carli Manwell, Miss SE Oklahoma
Overall Talent - Carrigan Bradley, Miss NSU
Swimsuit - Tori Meehan, Miss Tulsa
Prelim Night Two
Rookie Talent - Madeleine Louder, Miss Brookside
Swimsuit - Michella Wilson, Miss Green Country
Overall Talent - Julianne Thomison, Miss Bricktown
Prelim Night Three
Swimsuit - Lexie Herron, Miss Lawton
Rookie Talent - Megan Gold, Miss Bethany
Overall Talent - Ashley Thompson, Miss Edmond LibertyFest
At this point in the week ALL teen and miss contestants had competed in every phase of competition and suddenly it was time for the FINALS!!!! To say the least, I was nervous for my girls. I knew how hard they had been working to get to this point, they had every right to be proud of everything they did during the week. All I could do was cross my fingers and hope the judges saw it too!
You ready for the results????
Both my teens made the top 10!!!
AHHHHH!!! Both of my girls made the top 10!! I am soo happy (and then stressed because they have to compete all over again!) The entire top 10 are as follows:
People's Choice: Emily Faith - Miss Bricktown's OT, Sydney Massey - Miss OKC's OT, Olivia Kuester - Miss Eastern Oklahoma County's OT, Claire Grace - Miss Edmond LibertyFest's OT, Ava Cruchon - Miss NW OKC's OT, Brianna Hill - Miss Oklahoma State Fair's OT, Cassie Harding - Miss Delaware County's OT, Gabrielle Gore - Miss OCU's OT, Ashlyn Heritage - Miss Frontier Country's OT, Abby Billings - Miss Piedmont's OT, Addy Coody - Miss Bethany's OT, and a surprise addition Tori Kostas - Miss Tulsa's OT
I am so very thankful that I wasn't one of the judges, because this was such an impressive group of teens! It literally could have been any of them and they all would have done a great job! I am so glad that this year was web-cast and that they whole world got to see the talent, grace and poise that these wonderful teens exude!!
Then an AMAZING thing happened...
Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen
Sydney Massey - Miss Oklahoma City's Outstanding Teen
MY TEEN WON!!!!!!!!!!! To say that I am happy about this would be an understatement!!
(from left to right)
4th Runner-up: Brianna Hill - Miss Oklahoma State Fair's OT
2nd Runner-up: Claire Grace - Miss Edmond LibertyFest OT
Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen 2018: Sydney Massey - Miss OKC's OT
1st Runner-up: Tori Kostas - Miss Tulsa's OT
3rd Runner-up: Olivia Kuester - Miss Eastern Oklahoma County's OT
Not only did this mean that my girl won BUT this means I have had the winner for two years in a row!!!!!
Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen 2018 - Sydney Massey and Miss Oklahoma's Outstanding Teen 2017 - Evelyn Smith BOTH were Miss OKC's OT when they won the state title! - I'm not crying you're crying!
Now it's time to see how the Miss Contestants did!!! Also, this is where I am the worst because I didn't remember to take a picture of the top 10, my bad. Sorry guys! But please see the below list of the Top 10 Finalists for Miss Oklahoma 2018!
People's Choice: Micah Ripley - Miss Eastern Oklahoma County
Jordan Smith - Miss Oklahoma City (MY GIRL!!)
Madeline Shields - Miss Owasso
Carrigan Bradley - Miss NSU
Catelin Morris - Miss NW OKC
Tori Meehan - Miss Tulsa
Ashley Thompson - Miss Edmond LibertyFest
Megan Gold - Miss Bethany
Michella Wilson - Miss Green Country
Julianne Thomison - Miss Bricktown (MY GIRL!!)
Maggie Bond - Miss OCU
Both my girls made it and I sighed a big breath of relief but then got nervous, because they had to compete ALL OVER AGAIN!! If I say it once, I'll say it a million times, if you want to see a great and entertaining pageant, WATCH MISS OKLAHOMA!! You wont regret it and this group of finalists gave us a really great show!
Photo by Leigh Thompson Photography (from left to right)
4th Runner-up: Megan Gold - Miss Bethany, 2nd Runner-up: Carrigan Bradley - Miss NSU, Miss Oklahoma 2018: Ashley Thompson - Miss Edmond LibertyFest, 1st Runner-up: Catelin Morris - Miss NW OKC, 3rd Runner-up: Julianne Thomison - Miss Bricktown
My Miss Bricktown - Julianne Thomison placed in the top 5!!! AHHHHH!! Soo happy!!!
Side note: Megan Gold - Miss Bethany is a former Miss Oklahoma City's Outstanding Teen and Ashley Thompson the new Miss Oklahoma is a former Miss Oklahoma City!!! I am honored to have been apart of their journeys and I cant wait to continue to cheer them on!!!
There she is... Miss Oklahoma 2018, Ashley Thompson!!!
This brings Miss Oklahoma Week 2018 to a close. I am so proud of all my girls! They did everything they could possibly have done and I am proud of everything they did! It was an amazing year and I loved every minute of it! Below are some more fun pictures of the week, as well as a 7 year old picture of the new Miss Oklahoma and me that we really need to recreate :)
