Kalispell woman in the running for Miss USA

On Sunday, a Kalispell native will strut her stuff on a national stage and try to take home a crown for Montana.

Kacie West, 24, is competing in Miss USA 2013. The show, filmed live from Las Vegas, airs at 7 p.m. on NBC.

“The experience as a whole is going to be incredible,” West said.

While this is her first time competing in Miss USA, West is no stranger to the national pageant circuit: She also vied for the Miss America crown in 2011.

West said she was first drawn to pageants because of the scholarship opportunities. She managed to pay for most of her college education — she has a degree in elementary education from Montana State University — thanks to scholarships through the pageant programs.

But West’s attraction to the programs quickly grew beyond mercenary interests.

“I love the organizations that I was able to be involved with, the charity organizations and the various community activities,” she said. “I also gained a lot of skills, like interview skills. You can’t learn these skills anywhere else, like poise and confidence.”

Despite her pageant experience, West says she still gets butterflies on stage.

“Oh yes, I definitely still get nervous,” she said. “I don’t know how to get up on a national stage on national television and not be nervous.”

Nerves aren’t necessarily a bad thing, she added.

“I like being a little bit nervous. My interview is better. My walk is better,” West said. “It makes it exciting.”

The interview is more nerve-wracking for West than any other part of the competition. She will face a panel of judges who could ask her questions about any subject, from current events to personal questions from her biography.

“I have no idea what they’re going to ask,” she said. “It’s the one area of competition that’s slightly unpredictable. ...

“It’s the one thing you can’t completely prepare for,” she added. “You can practice. You can have a sense [of what the judges might ask]. But it really just comes down to the questions that they ask you.”

West’s father, Chris, helped her prepare for the interview by asking her questions about current events and her life.

“He’s helping me formulate good, strong opinions about various topics, so I’m comfortable with things, comfortable with current issues,” she said.

West’s mother, Tammy, helped her prepare, too, by coaching her on her walk for the swimsuit and evening gown portions of the competition. Her 15-year-old sister, Christine, offers support and advice.

“She’s so funny because she gets really into this. I hope someday she’ll want to do programs like these,” West said. “She’s my biggest fan and toughest critic at the same time. She’s very, very supportive.”

Should she win the crown, West will move on to the Miss Universe competition. She will spend the next year in New York City, raising awareness about breast and ovarian cancer and working with various cancer-related organizations.

“It’s something definitely all of us need to be passionate about,” West said about breast and ovarian cancer. “I have breast cancer in my family, so it hits home near and dear to my heart as well.”

West has been in Las Vegas for about two weeks for rehearsals and final preparations for the show. The preliminary competition was Wednesday; from that round, judges will choose most of the semifinalists, who will be announced Sunday night.

One semifinalist, however, will be chosen by the public. Voting is now open at www.missuniverse.com/miss usa.

Kristi Albertson, editor of This Week in the Flathead, may be reached at 758-4438 or at kalbertson@dailyinterlake.com.