The Holiday Halftime Show

The Miss America Scholarship program operates with pageants beginning at the local level which give women the opportunity to move on to state and national competitions. In Ohio, local pageants take place seven or eight months of the year, breaking in the summer with the state pageant in June or July. There’s another unofficial hiatus; the holiday season tends to serve as a half time show in the game of getting to Miss Ohio. The last local program was November 18 and another won’t take place until February 3rd.

So… here are the "players" stats at the half:

Name: Erica Gelhaus
Title: Miss Lake Festival
Date Crowned: July 24
Talent: Opera
Platform: Literacy
Education: Erica is a Music student at Otterbein College.
Experience: Erica also won the Talent and Interview awards; this will be her first trip to Miss Ohio.
Links: Celina Lake Festival website

Name: Elyse Healey
Title: Miss Greater Cleveland
Date Crowned: July 29
Talent: Broadway vocal
Platform: “Think Ability” Reaching Out to Individuals with Mental & Physical Disabilities
Education: Elyse is a Political Science major at Youngstown State University.
Experience: Elyse also won the Talent, Swimsuit and Evening Gown awards; this will be her second trip to Miss Ohio, last year she was the Third Runner-up.
Links: Elyse's website, Elyse's blog, Miss Greater Cleveland website

Name: Jessica Barrett
Title: Miss West Central Ohio
Date Crowned: July 29
Talent: Broadway vocal
Platform: Organ Donation
Education: Jessica studies MicroBiology at Miami University.
Experience: Jessica also won the Talent award; she was First Runner-up at this pageant last year and will be making her first trip to Miss Ohio.
Links: Miss West Central Ohio website

Name: Allison West
Title: Miss Ohio Valley
Date Crowned: July 29
Talent: Jazz Dance
Platform: "Start to Finish" Improving Lives in Our Nation, Young and Old.
Education: Allison studies Elementary and Special Education at Bethany College.
Experience: This is Allison’s first MAO title.

Name: Andrea Andryscik
Title: Miss North Coast
Date Crowned: August 5
Talent: Vocal
Platform: Youth Mental Health Awareness and Suicide Prevention
Education: Andrea is an English and Education student at Kent State University.
Experience: This is Andrea’s first MAO title.


Name: Sophia Davis
Title: Miss Miami Valley
Date Crowned: September 2
Talent: Jazz Dance
Platform: Big Brothers/ Big Sisters Program
Education: Sophia is studying Communications at Miami University.
Experience: Sophia also won the Interview, Talent and Swimsuit awards; she will be going to Miss Ohio for a second time.
Links: Sophia's website

Name: Allie Krucek
Title: Miss Clayland
Date Crowned: October 14
Talent: Jazz Dance
Platform: Serving Children with Disabilities
Education: Allie studies Exercise Science at the University of Toledo.
Experience: Allie also won the Community Service award; this will be her third trip to Miss Ohio, last year she was Second Runner-up.
Links: Allie's blog

Name: Emily Cousino
Title: Miss Mansfield
Date Crowned: October 28
Talent: Vocal
Platform: Heart Start Education
Education: Emily studies Art Therapy, Business and Computer Systems at Lourdes College.
Experience: Emily also won the Interview award; she has past pageant experience, but this will be her first trip to Miss Ohio.
Links: Miss Mansfield website

Name: Kristen Haas
Title: Miss Maumee Valley
Date Crowned: November 4
Talent: Jazz Dance
Platform: Preventing Heart Disease in Women
Education: Kristen is a Dance Performance major at Bowling Green State University.
Experience: Kristen also won the Interview award; this will be her second trip to Miss Ohio.
Links: Miss Maumee Valley website


Name: Lauren Hogan
Title: Miss All American City
Date Crowned: November 4

Talent: Vocal
Platform: “Risky Business” Preventing High Risk Behavior in Today’s Youth
Education: Lauren studies Communications at Bowling Green State University.
Experience: This will be Lauren’s first trip to Miss Ohio.

Name: Nanciann Strosnider
Title: Miss Lake Erie
Date Crowned: November 11
Talent: Broadway Vocal
Platform: Arts Education
Education: Nanciann studies Musical Theatre and Broadcast Journalism at Elon. University.
Experience: Nanciann also won the Talent award; this will be her third trip to Miss Ohio, her first year she was in the Top 5 and last year the Top 10.

Name: Becky Minger
Title: Miss Northwestern Ohio
Date Crowned: November 11
Talent: Vocal
Platform: “It’s Not Your Booty, It’s Your Inner Beauty” Building Self Esteem in Youth
Education: Becky is a Journalism and Music major at Bowling Green State University.
Experience: Becky also won the Talent award; this is her second MAO crown, last year she was the First Runner-up.
Links: a blog about Becky


Name: Christie Youssef
Title: Miss Portsmouth
Date Crowned: November 18
Talent: Harpist
Platform: Domestic Violence Awareness
Education: Christie is a graduate of Westmont College where she studied Chemistry and Biology.
Experience: Christie competed three times in Miss California where she was Fourth Runner-up her first year; this will be her first time at Miss Ohio.
Links: Miss Portsmouth & Scioto Valley website


Name: Karissa Martin
Title: Miss Scioto Valley
Date Crowned: November 18
Talent: Classic Broadway Vocal
Platform: Skin Cancer Awareness and Prevention
Education: Karissa studies Music and Theatre at West Liberty.
Experience: This will be Karissa’s first trip to Miss Ohio.
Links: Miss Portsmouth & Scioto Valley website

In-depth Halftime Stats:

*Of the 14 titleholders thus far, 9 are vocalist, 4 are dancers and 1 is a harpist.

*8 titleholders will be going to Miss Ohio for the first time and 6 are “returnees.”

*All of last years eligible Top 5 have returned, but only 1 of the eligible 4 remaining Top 10 is back.

*At this point 8 titles are up for grabs this spring.

-

Email me or leave a comment with information corrections or additions. Photos came from a variety of sources.