MANSFIELD — Mark your calendars — the Miss Ohio competition begins Wednesday night at the Renaissance Theater.
Almost 30 young women will compete for the title of Miss Ohio, along with 18 vying for the title of Miss Ohio Teen.
This year, four contestants from Richland County will grace the Miss Ohio stage.
Richland Source spoke with each contestant about her goals, community service and motivation for entering the competition.
Abigail Kern, Miss Mansfield’s Teen
Abigail Kern returns to the Miss Ohio Teen competition as Miss Mansfield’s Teen.
Kern was crowned Miss Ontario in 2022 and entered her first Miss Ohio Teen competition last year.
“I’ve always loved working in community and being a part of service,” Kern said. “I am very grateful for scholarships as well that I know that will definitely help me going into my freshman year of college.”
Kern’s community service initiative — Lend a Hand, Be A Friend — is an effort to promote mentorship and caring connections.
The initiative was inspired by Kern’s own experiences after being hospitalized with hyperalgesia nerve pain.
“I was really sick my junior year. It kind of came out of nowhere. I started throwing up not being able to keep food down,” she said.
“I ended up being admitted to the hospital where I was then placed on a feeding tube and then went in and out of the hospital for the next seven months.”
Kern said she got to a point where she felt like giving up — then she met her nurse, Stacy.
“Stacy connected me with a ton of people who also cared about me, and she showed me people who cared, and she told me to keep fighting, Kern recalled.
Kern said the Miss Ohio Teen program has allowed her to go into schools and talk with kids, something she wants to continue through her community service initiative.
“I have a story and I want to share it,” Kern said. “I’m showing students how small actions can make a big difference. I know firsthand how a person showing up can change everything.”
A recent Ontario High School graduate, Kern plans to attend college and study nursing. She will play a piano arrangement of “Paint It Black” by The Rolling Stones for the talent portion of the competition.
Kern said she’d encourage any young woman to consider joining the Miss Ohio program.
“This has created so many opportunities for me, my peers, my friends,” she said. “You are earning scholarships. It will only lead you to success.”
Kylie Gottman, Miss Richland County
Kylie Gottman wants little girls to know the sky isn’t the limit — it’s just the beginning.
A licensed pilot and flight instructor, Gottman said she was often the only woman in her aviation science classes. She was frequently called “Kyle” by instructors who didn’t realize there was a female student in the class.
“Growing up, I never really saw women pilots. I was a Navy brat. All of these men were out there flying tomcats and I wondered, ‘Where is someone that looks like me?'” said Gottman, a Lexington native.
Those experiences propelled Gottman to start her own non-profit, Where She Flies, to help young women and girls see their potential in the aviation industry. She also authored a children’s book based on her and her dog called, ‘Kylie and Baron: Wingmates in the Sky.’ Gottman will finish her studies in aviation science at Liberty University this summer.
Gottman will be performing a jazz dance routing to “Great Balls of Fire.” She hopes to use the Miss Ohio platform to further educate girls about the opportunities available in aviation.
This will be Gottman’s second time competing on the Miss Ohio stage. She competed for Miss Ohio’s Outstanding Teen in 2022.
She said the contest gave her the opportunity to meet other young women who were driven to better themselves and pursue higher education.
“We are not competing against each other. We are competing against ourselves,” she said.
“The scholarship money doesn’t hurt either, but honestly, the sisterhood is what matters.”
Grace Riegel, Miss Mansfield
Grace Riegel will return to the Miss Ohio stage for a second year. This time, she’ll represent her hometown as Miss Mansfield.
Riegel’s pageant experience began as a teen, when she earned the titles of Miss Lexington and Miss Teen Blueberry. After graduating high school, she enlisted in the military. Last year, she competed for the title of Miss Ohio as Miss Rock and Roll City.
“Pageantry is always really aligned with my goals and my passions,” Riegel said. “I started working as a dyslexia advocate from a very, very young age.”
“Once I entered into the pageant realm and realized that it’s a larger platform to share a story or to advocate for something bigger than myself, I felt very, very drawn to it,” she added.
Riegel works as a public affairs specialist for the Air National Guard. She’s currently stationed at the 179th Cyberspace Wing.
“My favorite phase of competition, for sure, is interview,” she said. “Working as a journalist for the Air Force, I have the opportunity to share so many other people’s stories.
“So to have a moment to be able to talk about my beliefs and my goals is always really, really fun.”
Riegel’s talent will be delivering an original monologue about her experience growing up with dyslexia.
“The only way I was going to make it through middle school and graduate high school was learning to become an advocate for myself,” Riegel said.
“My story shares how it felt to be a student that was isolated and alone, growing into my adult self as a journalist. Despite struggling with reading, writing and spelling, growing up with modern technology and spell check and my own confidence allowed that career to be possible.”
Riegel hopes to further promote awareness and empower students and families through her community service initiative, Spelling Out Dyslexia.
She said her goal is to empower kids to advocate for themselves, help parents understand what their kids are going through and teach school systems how they can best support students.
Kendall Windsor, Miss Spirit of Ohio
Kendall Windsor had limited pageant experience before competing for the title of Miss Ohio Teen last year.
This year, the Bellville native is moving up to the Miss Ohio competition.
“I’m excited to see a new side of things coming from a (Miss Ohio) Teen to a Miss (Ohio),” Windsor said. “There’s so much more that we do, so I’m excited to see how the transition is.”
“My favorite part (of the Miss Ohio competition) is just making memories and being on stage — showing everybody why I’m there, but also showing everyone that you can do it,” Windsor added. “You don’t have to be the perfect pageant girl.”
Windsor started dancing in kindergarten and joined the cheerleading squad in high school. She also competed in track and soccer, and was a member of Future Farmers of America.
Windsor recently finished her freshman year at Ohio Dominican University, where she’s studying sports management and sports media. She also plays on the university’s soccer team.
Windsor is carrying that passion for sports into her community service initiative, Together We Play.
“It’s about advocating and being inclusive for sports, allowing everybody the equal access to play,” she said. “I feel like now everybody that’s playing sports is like, ‘I have to be the best, but some kids just want to have fun and go play.’”
Windsor will perform a jazz dance routine to “Bad” by Michael Jackson for the talent competition.
photos from the miss ohio parade on sunday in downtown mansfield
About Miss Ohio
The Miss Ohio Scholarship Program is a division of the Miss America Scholarship Organization.
The week kicked off Sunday with the Miss Ohio parade.
The Miss Ohio Teen competition takes place Wednesday. The Miss Ohio Competition includes preliminaries on Thursday and Friday. Ten semifinalists will compete in the finals on Saturday.
Each night of competition begins at 7 p.m. on the main stage of the Renaissance Theater. Tickets are available for purchase online.
The Miss Ohio contestants are separated into a “Scarlet” and “Grey” flight and rotate talent and on-stage conversation with health and fitness and evening gown.
Gottman and Windsor are on the “Scarlet” flight, so they will showcase her talent and on-stage conversation on Thursday and health and fitness and evening gown Friday. Riegel is on the “Grey” flight.
