MANSFIELD — Paisley French has been dancing since the age of 2, and said she knew in elementary school that she wanted to dance for the rest of her life.
French took her passion for dancing to the Miss Portsmouth’s Teen stage in February — which led to her being crowned Miss Ohio’s Teen on Wednesday night.
“I never dreamed that I would be competing on the Miss Ohio stage, let alone win Miss Ohio’s Teen, so I am so incredibly excited and honored,” she said.
French’s platform is supporting dancers and their families through cancer diagnoses through her involvement in Dancers Against Cancer.
The Wheelersburg native and 2023 high school graduate performed a lyrical ballet dance to “Hallelujah” as her talent.
The 12 Miss Ohio Teen candidates were scored in the categories of interview, health and fitness, evening gown and talent by a panel of five judges.
The event’s emcees were 2022 Miss Ohio Elizabetta Nies and 2022 Miss Ohio’s Teen Cassandra Kurek. The Lexington trio and “The Voice” alumni Sorelle reprised their finale performance of Lady Gaga’s “A Million Reasons” before French was crowned.
When she’s not in the dance studio, French said she loves listening to music, specifically Elvis Presley. She plans to enroll at The Ohio State University in the fall studying dance, and will audition to be a Radio City Rockette in April.
When she represents Ohio at the Miss America Teen pageant in January, French said she wants to highlight Ohio’s hospitality and “how much of a family it can be.”
“I think there’s a lot of great things about Ohio that almost get thrown under the bus sometimes,” she said. “But there’s so many wonderful things that go on here.
“I’d really like to travel the state and let people know how wonderful it is and how much pride we take in it.”
A number of other competitors won awards at Wednesday’s competition:
Talent award winner — Faith Claypool
Interview award winner — Alia Ali
4th runner up — Faith Claypool
3rd runner up — Meggan Hitchens
2nd runner up — Aliah Williamson
1st runner up — Alia Ali
