Kalispell woman to vie for Miss America

A Kalispell woman has been crowned this year’s Miss Montana.

Kacie West, 21, won the title at the Miss Montana Pageant in Glendive on Saturday.

“I’m so excited. So excited,” she said in a phone interview Monday. “I’m on cloud nine at the moment.”

West is the daughter of Chris and Tammy West of Kalispell and is a 2007 Flathead High School graduate. She was one of 14 contestants vying for the Miss Montana sash last weekend.

West won preliminary awards in evening gown, fitness in swimsuit, and interview categories. She also won the talent portion for her rendition of “Don’t Rain on My Parade” from the movie “Funny Girl.”

It was the first time someone has swept the preliminary awards since the competition moved to Glendive in 2005.

Now West’s focus shifts to the Miss America pageant in Las Vegas in January. It will air on ABC Jan. 15.

“I’m nervous, but also so excited. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” she said.

“It’s been a long time since Montana has been in the top 10. Hopefully we can break that trend.”

To prepare, West will study up on the art of modeling. She plans to attend modeling workshops and photo shoots. She’s hoping to schedule hair and makeup consultations in Houston and to visit designers in Orlando, Fla., and South Carolina.

She also will work on her music and interview skills with help from local friends. Ivanna Fritz, a debate coach at Glacier High School, and vocal coach Cathy Helder already helped West prepare for her interview and talent competitions at the state level.

West said she also had support from Advanced Rehabilitation Services, Qdoba Mexican Grill and local dentist Leslie Anthony.

When she isn’t gearing up for the national pageant, West will be busy as the Miss Montana Scholarship Program’s ambassador to schools, conferences and special events. She will help raise money for Children’s Miracle Network and Shodair Children’s Hospital.

West also will deliver information about underage drinking, her Miss Montana platform.

She just completed her junior year at Montana State University, where she is studying elementary education with a science option. For two years, West has worked as a resident adviser, and she has seen the effects of underage drinking firsthand.

That was one of the major topics judges quizzed her about Saturday, West said. They asked her how to prevent underage drinking on a college campus.

“One of the biggest problems behind underage drinking is boredom,” she said. “[Students] get very bored and look to underage drinking as a form of alternative entertainment.”

To combat the boredom and offer healthy alternatives, West has helped organize everything from carnivals to movie nights to swing dancing lessons.

Traveling as Miss Montana will keep her too busy to study; West plans to take the next year off from college.

“It’s a full-time job. I’ll be all over the state, making appearances at different organizations,” she said.

She plans to be at the state fair and, she hopes, at the Northwest Montana Fair.

West got her start in the pageant world in high school. As a junior, she won the Junior Miss program and competed at the state level.

There she met the director of the Montana Junior Miss Program, who introduced her to the Miss Montana Scholarship Program.

West competed in the Miss Montana pageant in 2008. She finished as second runner-up and won preliminary talent, but it wasn’t quite the outcome she was hoping for.

“I figured I wasn’t quite finished. I wanted to try it one more time, so I came back, and here we are,” she said.

In addition to the crown, West won a $5,000 scholarship and $121,000 in applied scholarships. She also won several prizes, including a silver service tea set that Mitchell Oil Field has given Miss Eastern Montana and Miss Montana for the last 28 years.

First runner-up, Montana’s Sweetheart, was Holly Matz of Missoula. She won $2,500 and will represent Montana at the National Sweetheart Pageant. Matz also was first runner-up last year and was the 2006 Miss Montana’s Outstanding Teen.

Taryn Chuter of Corvallis was second runner-up. Jennifer Lower of Missoula was third runner-up and was voted Most Photogenic by Dorothy Sturlaugson of Right Impressions, the official photographer for Miss Montana week.

Jill Sharp of Sidney was fourth runner-up and won Friday night’s talent award with a mega mix-tape routine she choreographed herself. Sharp also won a $1,000 Community Service Scholarship.

Rylea Olson of Havre, Whitney Sjolstrom of Townsend and Nichole Yost of Bozeman rounded out the top eight. Yost was named Miss Congeniality by her fellow contestants.

Amy Fox of Belgrade was named this year’s Outstanding Teen.