Congrats to the New Miss Mansfield, Christie Youssef!

As I said after Miss Maple City, I am merely an amateur with a nice camera; many of my photos don't turn out, but they're better than nothing. Click each to enlarge.

Congrats to the new Miss Mansfield, Christie Youssef, who also won Talent, Interview, Congeniality and a grand total of $1,900. Christie is a graduate of Westmont College. In her onstage question she spoke about the seven different kinds of domestic violence, awareness of this issue is her platform. For the Talent competition she played “Baroque Famenco” on the harp.

This is her second Miss Ohio title; last year as Miss Portsmouth she placed in the Top 10 and won a Committed to Excellence Award. She has also placed in the Top 5 at Miss California.













First Runner-up Ashley Hartman is a student at the University of Akron. She stressed the importance of password protection and privacy settings while answering a question about her platform, Internet Safety. Ashley performs a lyrical dance to "Hide and Seek;" I will readily admit, I'm not usually moved or entertained by dance talents (sorry), but I love hers- it is so emotional! She also won the Swimsuit Award.

Can't put your finger on what's different about Ashley? It's the bangs!

Second Runner-up Lauren Hogan encountered one of a contestant’s worst nightmares with this pageant- someone else selected her talent song first! In only a week she put together her vocal rendition of Martina McBride's "Broken Wing." Lauren holds a Communication degree from Bowling Green State University and defended the necessity of comprehensive sex education in our schools (as opposed to abstinence-only), as her platform is "Preventing High Risk Behavior in Today's Youth." She won the Evening Gown competition.

The Third Runner-up is a familiar face at Miss Ohio, though she’s not yet graced the stage as a contestant. Baldwin-Wallace freshmen, Ashley Warholic, volunteered as a Miss Ohio week “gopher” for several years. Now that she’s a contestant she advocates FCCLA, "Family, Career, Community Leaders of America” as her pageant platform. Tonight she performed a jazz dance en Pointe, which reminded me of former Miss Ohio Melanie Murphy’s early days.

Finally, Fourth Runner-up Alicia Huyghe performed a high energy tap routine. She is a Biology student at Cleveland State University. Appropriately her platform is "Go green!” During her On-stage Question she highlighted the importance of building green; though it’s more expensive it’s worth it to save our environment for future generations.