After the crowd let out an audible gasp when Myah O’Neill entered the stage in a sparkly white evening gown at Corbet Theatre on Saturday night, it was hardly a surprise when she was later named Miss Lewis County 2023.
An 18-year-old Centralia College student and W.F. West High School graduate, O’Neill will now spend the year in the crown. Alongside her title, O’Neill went home with $3,500 in scholarships toward Centralia College, where she is pursuing a career as an educator, and a $2,000 cash scholarship.
For being voted “a true friend” by her fellow contestants, she also won a $300 scholarship provided by the Morton Loggers’ Jubilee for the “Miss Congeniality” title.
On top of the respect of the judges and her stagemates, O’Neill also earned the love of the crowd in the “People’s Choice” voting, which saw over 800 votes cast. For this, she earned a $443 scholarship.
Besides O’Neill, Saturday night’s program included three other local young women who likewise displayed charm, poise and talent as the night went on: Taylor Derscheid, Sydni Galligher and Calli Warren.
As the first runner-up, Galligher won a $1,000 scholarship.
A 20-year-old Centralia College student, Galligher also earned the “Four Points of the Crown” award for embodying the four points of the Miss America crown: style, service, scholarship and success.
For about two and a half hours, the four ladies joined Miss Washington Reagan Gallo and Miss Lewis County 2022 Briana Rasku, among other titleholders, for a competition of beauty and grace.
A local chapter of the Miss America program, contestants are judged on a pre-pageant interview, on-stage questions, the “red carpet” portion (formerly known as “evening wear”) and a talent show.
For her punctuality, Warren, an 18-year-old W.F. West student, earned the “staff award” from the Miss Lewis County board, which comes with a $250 scholarship.
O’Neill’s social impact platform is promoting self-expression through the arts. Derscheid, a 22-year-old Centralia College student and graduate of W.F. West, had the platform “advocating for people with disabilities.” Warren’s platform was suicide prevention through the promotion of suicide awareness in juveniles. Galligher’s was education on “the importance of the military and those who serve.”
Rasku was also honored at the end of the program on Saturday with a final dance to AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck” and a slideshow of her year’s highlights.
