Alexa Savage crowned Miss FMHS 2016

Alexa Savage was crowned Miss Fort Mill High School 2016 before a standing room only crowd Thursday night.

Savage will go on to compete in the Miss South Carolina pageant this summer. She was also awarded Miss Congeniality.

“I am just overwhelmed with excitement,” Savage said, just minutes after the crowning moment. “I just can’t even describe it.”

Savage said she “never even imagined” that she would ever have the opportunity to compete in the Miss S.C. pageant.

“I plan to go out into the community, do as much as I can, and enjoy it while it lasts,” Savage said. “I am just so excited and so blessed that I have this opportunity.”

English teacher Kari Cooper, who won first runner up in the Miss S.C. Strawberry Festival 2015 pageant, said she could not be more excited for Savage.

“She’s the most beautiful person, inside and out,” Cooper said.

Cooper added that Savage, who is one of her students, always gives 100 percent to whatever she does.

“She’s going to give you her best effort,” Cooper said.

Savage plans to attend The University of South Carolina in Columbia this fall and major in elementary education.

The process to be chosen to compete in the pageant is itself competitive. More than 60 girls wanted a chance to walk the stage, but 32 were chosen, eight contestants from each grade level. Results from interviews with Student Council advisors Meredith Adams, Caitlin McGlothin and Ben Tyler, plus a peer vote, went into the student’s final score.

Cooper worked with all of the contestants, preparing them to compete in the pageant.

“I thought they were amazing,” Cooper said. “We took girls who had never walked in heels before, and they looked stunning.”

Other winners were Julia Rajcok, Miss Senior; Ashley Simpson, Miss Junior; Kendall Costanzo, Miss Sophomore; and Courtney Smith, Miss Freshman. The grade level winners will have the option to compete in the Miss South Carolina Teen pageant this summer. Ashley Simpson was named Miss Photogenic; Miss Entertainment was Holly Hawkins and Miss Sweetheart, voted on by the audience, was Mallory Kovacs.

Miss Sophomore Kendall Costanzo said she will compete in Miss SC Teen because “this is such an awesome place to represent.”

“Everyone literally did so amazing,” she said.

“I felt that you might as well literally crown all of us because we all supported each other so much. Some of us didn’t even know each other before, but I felt like the friendships really grew.”

Student Council Advisor Caitlin McGlothin said all the contestants worked tirelessly to make the pageant a success.

“This is hands down one of the best group of girls we’ve had,” she said.

This story was originally published January 23, 2016 at 4:24 PM with the headline "Alexa Savage crowned Miss FMHS 2016."