3 from South County to compete for Miss Tulare County crown

Three contestants from South County are among 10 selected finalists who will compete this month in the Miss Tulare County pageant.

Jordan Soulier, and sisters Sarah and Hannah Risvold are in the running to take the crown, the $4,000 scholarship and the opportunity to represent the county in the Miss California Pageant.

Soulier, of Porterville, graduated from Monache High School in 2003. She is currently a senior at California State University, Fresno, She’s on track to earn a bachelor’s degree in animal science when she graduates this year.

Her platform issue is the importance of therapeutic riding for the handicapped. Her leadership roles have included being a past secretary and reporter for the local 4-H chapter, and a representative for Monache High in the Tulare Kings High School Honor Band as a clarinet player.

Soulier is competing for a second time, having been a contestant last year. Because she is 24 years old, this will be her last year of eligibility, she said.

“For the most part, it’s an opportunity for most of the girls to further their education,” she said. “It’s not all about the money, but it does help, especially for those of us going to four-year universities. It’s also an opportunity for whoever wins the pageant to give back to the community. A lot of us have been active in band and stuff so that has sort of shaped us, and this is our chance to give back.”

The contestants started rehearsing the first weekend of January, and have continued rehearsing every weekend since, Junnan Amaral, pageant executive director, said.

Each of them was selected through an audition that included an interview and a presentation of their talents last November, she said.

In the Miss Tulare County pageant’s 57 years, six winners were from Porterville, including the very first — Jo Abercrombie — in 1952, Amaral said.

Each of the contestants has devised a personal marketing plan based on a platform they will represent in the pageant.

Sara Risvold of Springville, a student at Porterville College, is advocating for suicide awareness via the Suicide Awareness Requires Action (SARA) Foundation. Her background includes winning a number of awards in Future Farmers of America and water polo, being an assistant student director for the Porterville High School drama program, and president and co-founder of H.E.A.R.T. (Help Earth and Recycle Trash).

Trying out for her first year of eligibility is Hannah Risvold of Springville. She is a senior at Porterville High who has been captain of the water polo team, past president, secretary and reporter for Springville 4-H, and has won a couple of awards as a competitive shooter.

Her platform issue is senile dementia awareness. Risvold was named senior princess in the Veteran’s Homecoming Queen/Miss Porterville pageant last October.

Unlike the Veteran’s Homecoming Queen/Miss Porterville pageant, Miss Tulare County is under the franchise of Miss America, and is an official preliminary to the national competition, Amaral said.

Contestants are slated to showcase their talent, poise and wit at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 21 in the historic Fox Theatre in downtown Visalia. Tickets to attend are $20 per person.

The other seven contestants are Christy Harding, El Diamante High, Visalia; Tia Marie Eager, Fresno Pacific College student and Golden West High graduate; Anne Nicole Baker, College of the Sequoias student; Kiley Pankey, Mount Whitney High student in Visalia; Casey Cochran, a COS student; Rachel Fangul and Tracey Lamar, also from COS.

Amaral, who spent the past month attending practices with the girls, believes they will help each other.

“Our young contestants are so smart, so articulate, so passionate and so full of heart,” Amaral said. “Their physical beauty is only secondary to their inner beauty. They’re very intelligent, they’re very talented. I think each one of them is going to give each other a run for their money.”

-- Contact The Recorder newsroom at 784-5000, Ext. 1043.