PAGEANT Circle

Miss Western North Dakota, Codi Miller, was crowned Miss North Dakota USA 2024 last Sunday, May 12 at the Watertown Events Center in Watertown, South Dakota. The 31-year-old former Miss North Dakota Teen USA just broke the records as the oldest woman to have ever won Miss North Dakota USA. Codi was crowned Miss North Dakota Teen USA 2009 and went on to compete in the Miss Teen USA 2009 pageant held in Nassau, The Bahamas. She had to join Miss North Dakota USA many times before finally winning her coveted state title during Sunday's state competition. After the Miss USA organization announced the scrapping of the age limit and welcomed women of all ages, Codi took the chance to join again. "I decided to quietly enter. I focused on my heart and mind. One of my best friends, referring to trying now 7 times, asked me if resiliency was enough to win," she wrote online. "I am here to tell you: NEVER WEAKEN when you hear no. Everything happens for a reason because God has a

Badlands' Monni Nyaribo was crowned Miss North Dakota USA 2023 on Sunday, June 11 at Watertown Event Center in Watertown, South Dakota. The 27-year-old BBA in marketing graduate of North Dakota State University will now represent North Dakota at Miss USA 2023 in Reno, Nevada this fall. Morgan Layton (Minot), Haley Helmin (Fargo), Chelsey Faye Morlock (Dunn County), and Lauren Cannon (Jamestown) were announced as the first, second, third, and fourth runners-up, respectively. As a proud Kenyan-American, the new Miss North Dakota USA hopes to inspire young girls with the same skin color as hers. She wrote on social media: "I hope any little black girl watching knows that they are worthy of love. They are worthy to be successful." Monni also shared her foundation and social impact initiative "Find Your Match" which was cultivated from her own life-altering experience with burnout in her 20s. It aims to eliminate hustle culture and raise awareness for burnout prevent