Miss Idaho Teen
When Tracey Driflot, the state director for Miss Idaho Teen USA, first laid eyes on 17-year-old Sandpoint High student Krista McNeal, she knew instantly the young woman had what it takes to be successful in pageant competition.
“When she walks into a room, immediately all eyes turn to look at her,” said Driflot.
But it is much more than McNeal’s stunning beauty that turn heads; Driflot said it is McNeal’s combination of grace, beauty and athletic appearance that instantly draw people to her.
McNeal was crowned 2007 Miss Idaho Teen USA in October and is busy preparing for the national competition which will take place in August at a location to be announced in April.
McNeal had already passed up several modeling contracts which would have required her to move to Los Angeles, so the idea of pageant competition appealed to her.
“Modeling would have required me to give up everything,” said McNeal. “I am only in high school for four years, so I chose not to move to L.A. to pursue modeling.” She added that pageant competition provided her with the perfect alternative.
After finishing in the top 10 of Sandpoint’s Junior Miss competition, McNeal contacted the Miss Idaho Teen USA organization and began the required paperwork to enter the pageant. In June she took her first of five monthly trips to Boise to prepare for the October competition.
Although the monthly training sessions were not mandatory, McNeal’s parents fully supported her taking part in them.
“It was all available to us,” said McNeal’s mom, Laura Deland. “We had to take advantage of it.”
The state competition involved judging in three different categories, all of which were given equal weight. Each contestant was interviewed and also took part in both a swimsuit and an evening gown competition.
“You do not have to perform a talent (in this competition),” said Driflot. “Therefore you can be an incredible academic or athlete and still compete in the pageant even if you are not strong in the performing arts.”
But Driflot stresses that this is much more than a beauty pageant. Judges look at the whole person, inside and out, and find the person who best represents what America is looking for in a teen.
To prepare for the interview portion of the competition, McNeal spent hours researching interview techniques and practicing in front of family and friends.
“I went online and found the 100 most common pageant questions,” said McNeal. She also took part in a mock interview during one of her training sessions in Boise and received critiques that helped her improve.
Competition is not new to McNeal, who has been a dedicated basketball player for seven years. A member of the Sandpoint High School girls’ varsity basketball team, McNeal also has a grade-point average that is above 4.0, takes honors and advanced placement classes, and volunteers at the Head Start program.
She loves the kids she works with in her volunteer time. Accomplishments like helping a little boy write his name for the first time are things that bring a light into her eyes and a smile to her face.
One of her prizes in an extensive package list is a scholarship to attend a leadership and confidence-building seminar in Texas for five days in June. The program focuses on areas such as public speaking, time management, motivation and goal setting. McNeal plans to attend and hopes it will provide her with the extra training she desires for the national competition. But her parents see it as an opportunity beyond the pageant.
“It (the seminar) is great just for everyday life skills,” said McNeal’s dad, Toby McNeal, who added his daughter has always given a full effort to achieve anything that is important enough to her.
Beyond the recognition and prizes, McNeal said that the competition also gave her the gift of many new friends. The other contestants have been very supportive of her and voted her Miss Congeniality in the state competition.
“That (being voted Miss Congeniality) meant as much, if not more, to me as winning the pageant,” said McNeal.
Driflot added that it does not happen often that the pageant winner also wins the Miss Congeniality category. “Not only did it show she is beautiful,” said Driflot. “But it also showed that she has what it takes on the inside to go the next level. Krista has very high potential in the national competition.”
Between now and the national pageant, McNeal plans to attend at least 10 Junior Miss pageants throughout the state and appear at as many events as possible. Her summer will be busy preparing for both the nationally televised pageant as well as her freshman year at college, which she hopes will take her to Pepperdine. But whatever path her life takes her, she plans to continue to be an example of a teenager who has made the right choices in life.
“Girls are in need of a positive female role model,” said Krista. “Inappropriate things are becoming more and more prevalent among teenagers, and I am not into that.”