Sports fans can reel off World Series winners, Indianapolis 500 champions or Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks from the past.
Lilly Yager has the same catalog of memories, except her interest lies …
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Sports fans can reel off World Series winners, Indianapolis 500 champions or Kansas City Chiefs quarterbacks from the past.
Lilly Yager has the same catalog of memories, except her interest lies elsewhere.
“For me, I can name a bunch of Miss Missouri’s and Miss Missouri Outstanding Teens,” she said. “The highlight of all my summers was getting to go.”
Yager is a student at Mexico High School, so she is familiar with the pageantry the event brings to town. She says competing for the Outstanding Teen title has been a goal for much of her life. Yager also considers this a one time effort.
It’s not that she dismisses her chances — “I’m very competitive,” she pointed out — Yager simply wishes to absorb the experience.
“I want to be me,” she explained.
So instead of engaging coaches to help with the nuances of the scholarship competition, she has relied for the most part on family and friends to help her prepare for the stage.
Neighbors helped her with the paperwork in advance of the event. She asked classmates to ask questions at random. Her mother has assisted with so much of the effort that Yager’s father borrowed from the old soccer mom label.
“My dad calls her the ‘pageant mom,’ “ Yager said.
Her brother has a tangential interest in the practice sessions. Former Outstanding Teen Shea Smith will be styling Yager’s hair and doing her makeup.
“He’s in love with her secretly,” Yager revealed. “I think that’s the reason he’s going.”
The Yagers served as a host family for teen candidates in the past. That experience prompted Yager’s desire to participate.
One year, Erika Hebron — Miss Missouri for 2010 — stayed with the family. It was a turning point for the young Yager.
“Just seeing how confident she was, how many doors opened for her,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘I want to do this.’ “
Yager’s talent is jazz dance. She learned the art at Janet’s Dance Studio and hopes that gives her a slight advantage when it comes to the talent portion of the event.
Janet’s dancers perform on the Missouri Military Academy stage, the same used by Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen.
“It will feel like home,” Yager said. “Hopefully that will help me a lot.”
