Recently, Miss Portsmouth Emily Lengenza traveled with Miss Shawnee Baylee Martin and Miss Portsmouth’s Teen Paisley French to the Miss Ohio Pageant. All three placed, with Lengenza being named First Runner Up out of 23 women. Martin was named Third Runner Up and French named Miss Ohio’s Teen.

Lengenza, 25, is a graduate of Ohio University and now teaches at Alexander Local Schools in Athens County, where she just finished her third year on the job.

She has been involved in pageantry since she was a junior in high school and says she has lost count of all the events she has participated in over the years.

“That is an unknown number,” Lengenza said when asked about her past events. “It has been a lot. I guess I have a wild story leading up to this. I’ve done so many, but I wasn’t doing very well. So, I did as many as I could, and I kept losing and losing and losing—until this year, but I just knew I had to grow and work on it.”

Lengenza says she admires hard work and determination and knew she had to bring both to the table, because she had the potential to succeed, and placing as runner up was an amazing feeling for her.

“It is surreal, absolutely surreal. I could not believe it,” Lengenza expressed about placing so high in the pageant, looking for words. “It was a very out of this world feeling and very much out of body. I can watch the videos back and I don’t remember my body moving, which is a very odd thing to not remember, but I don’t.”

Since the shock has worn off, Lengenza has had the time to sit and reflect on her past and future.

“This is my third time going and I always see it as meeting with family. Going to Mansfield is always such a great experience,” Lengenza said. “The volunteers and other contestants just make it. Win or lose, it is a great experience. I know, going into Miss Ohio week, I’m coming out of it as a better person, just because of the people involved.”

Lengenza’s platform was “If You Can, Teach,” which focuses on ending the teacher shortage by getting younger people who want to be in the education field the tools and resources they need, as well as addressing legislation.

“I’ve been speaking out about how great the job of being a teacher is,” Lengenza said. “I’ve also been talking to legislatures and making sure teachers’ voices are heard.”

For her talent portion of the pageant, Lengenza sang opera, belting out the tune of Quando me’n vo,’ also known as Musetta’s Waltz.

“It went really well and felt really, really good,” Lengenza said. “When I first walked out in my talent gown, everyone gasped, because it was a really deep purple. My talent gown was originally my evening gown, so I knew it was a really, really pretty gown. So, everyone gasped, and I was thinking ‘OK, now just you wait,’ because I still need to do my talent. It’s not all about the dress. Then, I sang, and it went wonderfully.”

Lengenza says that she has two more years to win Miss Ohio and she hasn’t put her hard work and determination to bed just yet, planning to attempt another victory next year.

“I will be trying again and going back, hopefully. To do that, I will have to win a local preliminary. My last preliminary was Portsmouth,” Lengenza explained. “When local preliminaries begin again, I will be competing again. I hope to win a title and compete in Miss Ohio once again.”

Lengenza says there is a reason she works with such determination to have the opportunity to compete.

“When I was little, I would just watch the Miss Ohio Pageant and it was something I was wowed by. I thought it was really, really cool. Both my parents were raised in Mansfield. My grandparents live in Mansfield. It felt like something so close, but so far,” Lengenza recalled. “Once I won my first title in 2018, I remember Miss Ohio at the time, Matti-Lynn Chrisman, came up to me. She was at the pageant. She told me I got to go to Miss Ohio and I was just blown away, because I realized I got to be one of those girls who got to go and compete. It once felt so far away, but here it was.”

Her connection to pageants only grew from there.

“When I got there, I realized I was going to leave with friendships and family that lasted a lifetime and those have rung true,” Lengenza claimed. “The amount of messages and well wishes I’ve received after the fact, from people I’ve not spoken to since I won my first preliminary in 2018, is just amazing. They’re telling me they’ve been watching me, are proud of me, and knew I could do it. It has made my heart swell. It is insane how many friends and family have followed me for five years and that’s what this organization is about—creating bonds and sisterhood and friendships that last time, because we all follow each other.”

Lengenza also encourages others to participate in pageantry.

“Just start,” Lengenza said, pointblank. “It is more obtainable than you think. It was such a fairytale story for me, but I did not realize that, once I just dipped my toe in, that there were so many people on the other side who would be there to grab me and pull me in.”

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2022 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved