07 Jul 2016 Miss UCA wins talent award in Miss Arkansas Pageant
Miss University of Central Arkansas Ashton Purtle won the Preliminary Artistic Expression in Talent Award and Miss Arkansas State University Bailey Moses won the Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit Preliminary Award on Wednesday, the opening night of the 79th Annual Miss Arkansas Pageant at Bank of the Ozarks Arena in Hot Springs.
For winning, Purtle received a $1,400 scholarship donated by Scott Heffington and Ricky Medlock. Moses received a $1,000 scholarship for winning Swimsuit donated by Blend Brushes and Jennifer Jones.
Emcees for this year’s pageant are KATV’s Chris Kane and Miss Arkansas 2009 Sarah Slocum Collins. Miss Arkansas 2015 Loren McDaniel of Van Buren was on hand Wednesday night to perform and present the awards.
Moses is the 21-year old daughter of Jeff and Marsha Moses of Cabot. She is a senior at Arkansas State University.
Purtle is the 20-year old daughter of Steve and Michele Purtle of Russellville. She is a junior at the University of Central Arkansas. For her talent selection she performed an Acro Lyrical Dance to “Listen.”
For the 9th year Alpha Awards were presented for each phase of competition. These are presented to first-time Miss Arkansas contestants that garnered the most points in their respective groups each night.
Alpha Award winners announced at the conclusion of Wednesday night were:
Miss UCA Ashton Purtle (Artistic Expression in Talent)
Miss Metro Kyla Soden (Lifestyle and Fitness in Swimsuit)
Alpha Talent and Swimsuit Winners will each receive a $250 scholarship from the Miss Arkansas Executive Director’s Association.
Soden is 17-year old daughter of Mike and Donna Soden of Cabot. She is a freshman at Arkansas State University.
Additional Alpha winners announced were:
Miss Heart of the Ozarks Savvy Shields (Group B Interview). She was presented a $250 scholarship from the Miss Arkansas Executive Directors Association (MAEDA).
Shields is the 21-year old daughter of Todd and Karen Shields of Fayetteville. She is a senior at the University of Arkansas.
Miss University of Arkansas – Fort Smith Katie Brown (Alpha Arrival); presented a $250 scholarship from Bill Tarkington and Mike Spivey.
Brown is the 20-year old daughter of Damon and Leigh Brown of Alma. She is a senior at the University of Arkansas-Fort Smith.
Also recognized were the top fundraisers for the Children’s Miracle Network. The 42 contestants raised almost $93,000 for CMN this year and the top five contestants raised nearly $60,000 of that amount. The overall top fundraiser for the 2016 Miss Arkansas contestant class is Miss Arkansas State University Bailey Moses.
Also recognized were (in order of total fundraising as of the deadline):
1st Place: Miss UCA Ashton Purtle
2nd Place: Miss Sweetheart of Arkansas Jennifer Nottenkamper
3rd Place: Miss Ouachita River Samantha Hudon
4th Place: Miss Northwest Arkansas Jacey Winn
The Healthy Lifestyles Platform Award was presented to Miss UCA Ashton Purtle, who will receive a $500 scholarship presented by Sharon Turrentine.
This year’s Miss Arkansas Pageant celebrates the 79th Year of the Miss Arkansas Scholarship Pageant. This year’s show features 42 contestants from around the state. They are competing for $121,800 in scholarship funds.
The newly crowned Miss Arkansas’ Outstanding Teen 2016 Emily Brewer was on hand tonight and was introduced on stage as one of her first official appearances since being crowned June 11th in Russellville.
Competition continues with preliminaries at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday night. Final competition is scheduled for 7 p.m. Saturday and includes the naming of the Top 10 semi-finalists. Reigning Miss Arkansas and Miss America’s Top 15 Semi-Finalist McDaniel will be on hand to crown the new Miss Arkansas.
For ticket information, visit ticketmaster.com or the Bank of Arena box office.
For those who can’t attend the 2016 Miss Arkansas pageant in Hot Springs, you can watch each night of preliminary competition as well as the crowning on missarkansas.org.
