Distinguished Young Women show their stuff

MOSES LAKE — The fire department places a maximum on the number of people who can fit into the Moses Lake High School auditorium, a maximum that was nearly met Saturday night. Fortunately, there is no cap on the amount of beauty, talent and achievement that can be packed into the building. If there were, the seven young ladies who participated in the Distinguished Young Women pageant would undoubtedly have exceeded it.

Distinguished Young Women is a scholarship program based in Mobile, Ala. aimed at helping young women succeed not only in school but in the rest of their lives as well. Last year the organization enabled girls to obtain more than $1.1 billion in scholarships, according to DYW’s website.

Seven high school juniors competed at the local level in various areas of achievement: Academics, including test scores, grades and course loads; Talent, involving a live artistic performance before an audience; Fitness, demonstrated in a grueling group aerobic routine and Self-expression, a blanket term for poise, demeanor and ability to think and communicate clearly, according to Saturday night’s program. The pageant was emceed by Kendall Earl, 2011 Moses Lake Distinguished Young Woman and 2012 Distinguished Young Woman for Washington. Also on hand were Sariah Aronsohn, 2015 Moses Lake Distinguished Young Woman, and 2015 finalist Kiley Hueser.

This year’s theme was “Supergirls.” The stage was decorated accordingly with comic-book sound effects (“Bam! Pow!”) and a skyline that could have been either Gotham City or Metropolis.

Contestant No. 1 was Madison Hesse, who performed a sweeping ballet routine from “Swan Lake.” Hesse, the daughter of Troy and Stephanie Hesse, plans to attend Eastern Washington University after she graduates.

The second contestant was Alexandra Dogbe. Dogbe’s talent performance was a lilting flute performance from “Andante Cantabile” by J. S. Bach. Dogbe is the daughter of Kokou and Dede Dogbe and plans to attend the University of Washington.

Contestant No 3 was Kyersten Hunt, the daughter of David and Elsa Hunt, who currently attends Moses Lake Christian Academy and Big Bend Community College, and plans to go on to the University of Washington. She sang “Don’t Rain on my Parade” from the 1964 Broadway musical “Funny Girl.”

Brianna Hansen, daughter of Jeffery and Elizabeth Hansen, was the fourth contestant. She performed a high-energy dance routine to “Arwen’s Vigil,” by The Piano Guys. She plans to attend BYU Provo after she graduates.

Contestant No 5 was Lauren Beich, the daughter of Daniel and Kristin Beich. Her performance on the clarinet was from Vivaldi’s Concerto Allegro in G Minor. Beich plans to attend the University of Washington.

Following her was contestant No. 6, Cassandra Canterbury. Canterbury drew on the dancing skills she said she learned at Today’s Generation in her clogging routine to “Word Up.” She is the daughter of Rick and Stephanie Canterbury and plans to attend Eastern Washington University.

Rounding out the field was Elisabeth Barlow, the daughter of Brian and Esther Barlow, who played “August: Harvest” from Tchaikovsky’s “The Seasons” on the piano. Barlow plans to attend Brigham Young University.

After the talent portion of the program, the contestants again dazzled the audience with their fitness routine, which could be described as anywhere from energetic to brutal. “You’ll be winded just watching these girls,” said Earl in her introduction. In keeping with the superhero theme, the music was the theme from the 1970s TV show “Wonder Woman.” The audience was invited to shout encouragement, which they did enthusiastically.

Between the demonstrations of excellence by the contestants were interspersed dance performances by students from Today’s Generation and the High Voltage Dance Club, the Stretto ensemble from Moses Lake Christian Academy and dance performances from Aronson and Heuser. Taylor Yamane, who is this year’s Washington Distinguished Young Woman, also sang a rip-roaring rendition of “(If You Can’t Sing It) You’ll Have to Swing It (Mr. Paganini).”

The winner of Saturday night’s pageant was Elisabeth Barlow. First runner-up was Brianna Hansen and second runner-up was Kyersten Hunt. In addition, Lauren Beich took home an award for scholastic achievement with a $500 scholarship from Dr. Brent Jones of Moses Lake. Barlow also received category awards for Self-Expression and Community Outreach, and Hansen received awards for talent and fitness.

Barlow’s next stop in the competition is at the state level, held in Pullman in early August. The winner of that competition will go on to Mobile, Ala. next June.