A Recap of the Sweeps Winners

Sweeps I - Miss Ohio Sophomores!

Miss Ohio River, Heather Wells, is headed to Mansfield for a second time; she competed as Miss Maple City last year. She is a dancer pursuing Broadcast Journalism at Kent State University. Her platform is "Groomed 4 success" which promotes 4-H awareness. Click here for her blog. Heather was eligible for Sweeps by being the Swimsuit winner at Lake Erie, 1^st RU at MV/AAC/FT, 1^st RU and Swimsuit at Muskingum V and 2^nd RU at Mansfield. She is also the Trumble County Fair Queen, but never planned to try using that title to compete at Miss Ohio.

Miss Mohican Valley, Kristy Moneysmith, is making her second trip to Miss Ohio too, where she won a CMN award. Last year she also won her title, Miss Chillicothe, at the Sweeps pageant. She is a country vocalist who studies Speech Pathology and Audiology at Ball State University. Her platform is "Mentoring Through Leadership and Role Modeling." Kristy was eligible for Sweeps by being 1^st RU at West Central Ohio, 2^nd RU at MV/AAC/FT; 1^st RU at Mansfield and I think she competed at Miss Miami Valley.

Sweeps II - Back to the Renaissance for the very first time!

Miss Heart of Ohio, Ashley Warholic is a Mansfield native, who served as a Miss Ohio "gopher" for several years. She's no stranger to the Renaissance theatre, but this is the first time she'll be on stage as a contestant. Ashley is a Public Relations and Marketing student at Baldwin-Wallace. Her platform is "Focus on Family, Career, Community Leaders of America" and she performs jazz ballet en pointe. Previously this season she was 2nd RU and Swimsuit winner at GC/CC, 2nd RU at North Coast, 1st RU at North East Ohio, 3rd RU at Maple City and she competed at MV/AAC/FT and Mansfield.

Miss Buckeye State, Courtney Monk, was not a familiar name to many pageant fans, but pageants are familiar to her! Courtney was a 'Little Sis' for the Miss Northwestern Ohio program, meaning she was one of those cute little girls who gave a flower to the contestants during evening gown. She went on to entertain at NWO with the Defiance Dance Studio. Courtney was on the Miss Ohio stage as a featured dancer last year, but this will also be her first time there as a contestant. She is a vocalist studying Music Education at Anderson University; she promotes Arts Education as her platform. Previously this season she was 1st RU at Northwestern Ohio and Swimsuit winner at Maple City.

Since the state board runs the Sweeps programs, there is no ED, rather "mentors" are appointed to help these women in the quick preparation for Miss Ohio. Kim Baker Kanary will be mentoring two titleholders, I'm not sure which. Ellen Pasturzak Spinner is mentoring Courtney and I have no idea who the final mentor is. Leave a comment if you know.