Twelve women competed to be Miss Macomb this past Sunday but only one could come out on top. Rayni Lasley of Springfield was crowned the winner of the 2013 pageant, but she almost didn’t even compete.
“My friend Carmen, who was in the pageant, she got second runner-up was the one who talked me into it,” said Lasley. “And I was like ‘I don’t know, I’m scared’ and she talked me into it, so I’m really happy that I did.”
The pageant consisted of a swimsuit competition, evening gown, talent, on-stage question, and a ten minute interview prior to the pageant.
“I think the hardest part was preparing for the interview, getting caught up on current events,” she said. “It sounds like really simple to do but you can get really behind.”
The junior Family and Consumer Science major received a $5,000 scholarship for winning the pageant and already has plans of what to do with it.
“It’s definitely going to help me with housing,” said Lasley. “That’s something that I’m really kind of struggling with right now, so my mom was really excited for that. She was
jumping up and down for that reason when I won.”
Up next is the Miss Illinois pageant in June. For now, Rayni is still trying to soak in her success in this pageant.
“I just won Sunday and I woke up Monday with I think 57 friend requests on Facebook and just messages asking me random questions,” she said. “And I mean it’s really cool and it’s exciting but it’s somewhat overwhelming too, I’m not used to it yet.”
The support of her friends and family have helped her throughout the pageant process. In fact, Rayni was looking into her crowd of supporters on Sunday when they were announcing the winners.
“I didn’t even hear them announce my name,” said Lasley. “Someone had to literally tap my arm and be like ‘Go to there.’ They were pointing to the X and kind of pushing me along. And everyone was telling me ‘Go wave, go do this’ and I was just out of it completely.”
Rayni will take away the memories of this pageant, as she tries to lead her normal life as Miss Macomb 2013.
