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Allie Gray of Celina won the coveted Miss Ohio's Teen title in Mansfield on Wednesday.
MANSFIELD - One area young woman was crowned Miss Ohio's Teen in Mansfield on Wednesday while two others are vying for the Miss Ohio title on Saturday.
Allie Gray of Celina won the coveted Miss Ohio's Teen title and a $2,500 scholarship award. Gray, who was crowned Miss Lake Festival Outstanding Teen 2024, competed against 11 contestants, including Monica Hemmelgarn of Coldwater, Mackenzie Harmer of St. Henry and Reyna Hume of Wapakoneta.
Harmer was third runner-up.
Mackenzie Harmer of St. Henry competed for Miss Ohio's Teen in Mansfield. She placed third runner-up.
Monica Hemmelgarn of Coldwater competed for Miss Ohio's Teen in Mansfield.
Celina residents Caitlin Cramer and Makenzie Regedanz are vying for the Miss Ohio title, which comes with a $10,000 scholarship award.
Caitlin Cramer of Celina is vying for the Miss Ohio title this weekend in Mansfield.
Makenzie Regedanz of Celina is vying for the Miss Ohio title this weekend in Mansfield.
Although the pageant is competitive by nature, the young women all know each other and consider themselves friends.
"The girls are all friends with each other," said Rachel Hemmelgarn, Monica's mother. "Yeah, it's a competition, but it's not like a mean girl type thing. Everybody gets along, everybody's rooting for each other. Everybody helps each other. It's definitely not like what you see in movies."
Monica Hemmelgarn, 17, is Miss North Coast's Teen and her talent is dance.
This was Monica Hemmelgarn's first year of competing. She has been dancing for 15 years, seven of which she participated in competitive dance.
Miss Ohio's Teen and Miss Ohio are a branch of the Miss America Scholarship Organization, Heidi Harmer said.
Her daughter Mackenzie, 17, is Miss Shawnee's Teen and her talent is ballet. She dances at Upstage Downtown Dance in Celina and has trained there for the past four years, although she has a total of 12 years of dance training.
"The Miss America Scholarship Organization is a scholarship organization so the young ladies who are fortunate enough to win the title of Miss Ohio and Miss Ohio's Teen are awarded some scholarship money to go toward their college education," Heidi Harmer said.
The competition consists of multiple sections, including evening gown, fitness, onstage questions, talent and an interview before a panel of judges, she said. The judges interviewed the contestants for 10 minutes, asking about each woman's community service initiative, which is a platform they build based on what they're passionate about.
For example, Mackenzie Harmer's initiative is about fire safety. In 2022, a devastating fire destroyed about half of her family's house.
"We had to go through the rebuild process, so fire safety was something that Mackenzie really held close to her heart and she really wanted to enhance all of the wonderful fire safety initiatives that are already in place," Heidi Harmer said. "She partnered with the local fire department and a lieutenant from the Columbus Fire Department. She learned many things about fire safety and (took) what she's learned to the schools and a Girl Scout troop meeting."
There are several local pageants, including Miss Lake Festival, that women can compete in to win a title to go on to compete for Miss America and Miss America's Teen.
Despite any misconceptions, the organizations are grounded in female empowerment, aiming to build women up and highlight their strength, inner beauty and passions.
As such, the swimsuit portion was done away with at the national level and replaced with a fitness portion in which contestants walk out on the stage wearing athletic clothing.
"Honestly, the fitness phase of the competition is Mackenzie's favorite," Heidi Harmer said. "Fitness is not just about having that stereotypical, model figure. It's about showing your confidence and your health. You don't have to be a size zero to be in the Miss America organization at all. It's about showing your confidence in your own skin and just showing that you're strong."
The organization partners with Rebel Athletic which provides the athletic clothing.
"The girls can choose anything that they're comfortable in from that line," Rachel Hemmelgarn said.
The clothing varies in modesty, and the women can wear whatever they're comfortable with.
"The wonderful thing about that is (Rebel Athletic) has things from maybe a more form-fitting, tighter top to a looser top," Heidi Harmer said. "You can wear longer shorts, skirts (or) leggings. There are many options available for the girls so that they feel very comfortable in their own skin when they're on the stage."
Heidi Harmer also said the talent portion has come a long away.
In addition to the more common talent options such as singing, dancing or playing an instrument, the organization launched HerStory, which gives women the opportunity to recite a prepared speech about a specific topic they're passionate about.
For example, 17-year-old Hume brought out a robot she built and talked about how she is trying to make STEM fields more welcoming for women.
"There are so many different types of talent," Heidi Harmer said. "It's not everybody's a singer or everybody's a dancer. They've really branched out and tried to give a really great opportunity for all young ladies to compete."
