By Jennifer Eisenbart
SLN Staff
Elkhorn native Malainey Myrin had a philosophical attitude approaching last week’s Miss Wisconsin pageant as Miss Wood Violet.
“I came here with the expectation that I got last place or I got first place, I would still be putting everything out on the stage that was 100 percent me,” said Myrin, who won a pair of awards but did not make the cut to the semifinals. “I’m happy with the outcome no matter what I had.”
Myrin, who was one of three young women to earn a last-minute entry to Miss Wisconsin this year through a first-ever sweeps pageant, won the swimsuit competition on the second day of preliminaries.
In addition, after not being named among the top 10 Saturday evening, Myrin won the non-finalist interview award.
The top 10 competitors with the highest combined score through swimsuit, talent, evening gown, on-stage question and private interview made the cut to the semifinals. A “People’s Choice” finalist was also named.
The eventual winner was Miss Green Bay, Courtney Pelot, who won a $10,000 scholarship with the title along with the chance to compete at Miss America in September.
The other sweeps winners from April also had a strong weekend. Miss Great Lakes Madeline Kumm ended up as first runner-up to Pelot, while Miss Badgerland Catherine Smith won her talent preliminary Thursday and the non-finalist talent award.
Overall, Myrin picked up more than $1,000 in scholarships to take back to Ripon College this fall, where she is majoring in biology.
“I’m very grateful for the opportunity to come back to the Miss Wisconsin pageant this week,” Myrin said. “I’m looking forward to coming back to school in the fall.”
