The Miss Liberal Scholarship Pageant was filled with talent Sunday afternoon, but the crown could only go to one young lady, and it was Allyson Nondorf, who captured the judges and audience the most.
“When I heard my name I was in shock, and it still hasn’t sunk in yet,” Nondorf said about Sunday.
The Posting of Colors by the Liberal Fire Department and the singing of the National Anthem by Miss Kansas, Amanda Sasek, were a part of the commencing ceremony.
The master of ceremonies, Dan Dillon, then welcomed all five contestants, Nondorf, Lexie Kilbourne, Paige Young, Isabelle Williams and Alexis Valles on stage as they made their first appearance with a dance number, accompanied by Miss Liberal, Emily Bayouth.
The pageant moved forward quickly as each contestant made their way back on stage, one-by-one, for the lifestyle and fitness swimwear competition portion of the evening.
Kilbourne and Nondorf tied in lifestyle and fitness swimwear.
Bayouth, the reigning Miss Liberal, performed her karate number from when she competed the year before. The talent portion of the pageant came after Bayouth’s Sandstorm number, and SCCC/ATS concurrent student, Kilbourne, shared that the talent portion was the toughest for her.
“The talent part was probably the scariest part for me,” Kilbourne said. “I’ve never performed in front of a large crowd like that, let alone by myself.”
At the end of the night, however, Kilbourne won the talent. Another tough event for the contestants was the interview on stage. Each contestant answered questions on the spot about her platform and was then asked a question by Miss Liberal.
The last portion of the pageant was eveningwear and each contestant gracefully made her way around the stage one last time before the winner was announced.