Special scholarship awards presented on opening night at Miss S.D. 2017

HOT SPRINGS — Rachel Evangelisto, Miss Siouxland, and Carrie Wintle, Miss Rushmore, took home preliminary awards in the Talent and Swimsuit competitions at the Miss South Dakota Pageant Thursday night.
Wintle won the preliminary talent competition playing “Final Countdown” on the piano. Evangelisto took the swimsuit title wearing a pink two-piece.
Wintle is from Iroquois and recently graduated from University of South Dakota.  Evangelisto is from Rapid City and attends University of Minnesota - Morris.
 The talent award is a $1,000 scholarship, and $400 goes to the swimsuit winner.
In addition, several special scholarship winners were announced Thursday, on the first evening of competition. And Carrie Wintle heard her name called numerous times.

Each state pageant recognizes the contestant who has raised the most money for the Children’s Miracle Network, and that contestant this year was Miss Carrie Wintle. She was also awarded a $500 scholarship for being the top fundraiser.
 The CMN Legacy scholarship is given to a contestant who excelled in a combination of marketing and volunteerism of community service for the Children’s Miracle Network campaign. This winner of this first-time $500 award, sponsored by Miss SD 2015 Autumn Simunek, was Kaitlin O’Neill of Aberdeen, Miss Wheel Jam.
The State Community Service award recognizes commitment to providing service to others through a program or project. The three finalists for the award were Evy Johnson, Kaitlin O’Neill and Carrie Wintle. Again, the winner of the $500 award was Carrie Wintle.
The Miss America Scholar Award of $1,000 for academic excellence was awarded to Rachel Black of Rutland. Other finalists for the award were Madeline Gould of Sioux Falls, Carrie Wintle, and Amber Hulse of Hot Springs.
The State Quality of Life award is awarded for enhancing the quality of life for others through volunteerism and community service. The three finalists for the award were Isabella Garcia, Amber Hulse and Carrie Wintle. The winner of the $500 scholarship was Amber Hulse.
The $1,000 Miss America Community Service Scholarship is given for demonstrating exemplary community service. The three finalists for this award were Rachel Evangelisto of Rapid City, Kaitlin O’Neil and Carrie Wintle, and the winner was Carrie Wintle.
Voting is still open for The People’s Choice at the pageant, and YOU can have a vote on who will be one of the finalists for Miss South Dakota 2017.  The People’s Choice winner will compete in the pageant finals and receive a $500 People’s Choice Award Scholarship.
You can vote at misssd.org/vote-now. Each vote costs $1 and you can vote as many times for as many contestants as you wish. Proceeds will benefit the pageant scholarship fund.