This past Thursday, USF St. Petersburg hosted its inaugural Mr. and Miss USFSP pageant.
There were 11 contestants. The Mr. USFSP contestants were Jordan Palavra, Alan Mansour, Victor Sims, Jonah King and William Harris.
The Miss USFSP contestants were Justice Thornton, Ashlyn Bigley, Catherine Kouretsos, Arin Hurd, Taylor Singleton, Iannah Johnson and Miriam Jeanlys.
The night opened with a dance number that introduced the contestants to the audience. The audience was also introduced to hosts Solange Gorleku and Thomas Boyd.
The first competition of the night was Lifestyle and Fitness. This was when contestants showed off their daily life with their attire and told the audience about some of their hobbies.
One outfit that stood out during this round belonged to Justice Thornton. She wore a Lakers dress with sneakers and complemented the ensemble with gold pom poms. She told the audience that her hobbies include cheerleading, dancing and watching basketball.
Next up was talent; contestants had 90 seconds to show off their skills. Some of the talents included pop animation, singing, dancing, spoken word and a piano medley.
Johnson, who performed a spoken word piece about power and faith, was a highlight of the talent round. A powerful line from her piece was “Faith is believing in something that you can’t see, but you can feel. Something that you know exists, but can’t prove.”
The last round of the night was formal wear and Q&A. Most of the questions were related to the contestants’ potential impact on USFSP.
Then the moment came to announce Mr. and Miss USFSP.
Mr. and Miss Congeniality: Jordan Palavra and Arin Hurd.
First Runner-up: Jonah King and Justice Thornton.
The first Mr. USFSP is Victor Sims and Miss USFSP is Iannah Johnson.
