Shelby Fail

Shelby Fail, a student at Midland Valley High, is the 2018 National American Miss South Carolina. She will compete for the national title in California this fall.

Having been named the 2018 National American Miss South Carolina this summer, Shelby Fail will compete for the national title in the fall.

Fail, 15, won the title at a regional competition for girls from South and North Carolina in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, during the last weekend of June. Contestants from each state were judged separately.

“When I got crowned, it was great,” said Fail, who is a rising sophomore at Midland Valley High School. “This is my first really big pageant, but I've been in school pageants and a local pageant.”

During the pageant, contestants competed in formal wear, interview and personal introduction.

“Getting dressed up was the best part,” said Fail, who had her tiara tucked into the braids of her light brown hair and wore a red and white sash that read “Miss South Carolina" over a navy blue dress.

The interview was “a little intimidating,” Fail said but added the questions weren't too hard.

“They asked me mainly about myself - my favorite subject at school, my favorite quote - to get to know my personality,” she said.

In addition to the required elements of the competition, Fail participated in two optional contests: photo shoot, which was for top model, and casual-wear modeling. She won the top model competition.

The national competition will be in Anaheim, California, during Thanksgiving week.

In addition to the pageant, Fail and the other contestants will visit Disneyland and tour Hollywood. The cross-country trip will be Fail's first to the Golden State.

Fail received a $1,000 scholarship for winning the state title. The top prize in the national competition is $5,000 in cash.

If she won, that money would go into her college fund, said Fail, who wants to be a meteorologist.

She also received $350 for winning the top model contest during the state competition. The prize for each optional contest at the national pageant is $800.

Fail is a daughter of Anthony and Nikki Fail and Jessica Gregory.

The National American Miss pageants, which are for girls ages 4 to 18, emphasize “gaining self-confidence, learning new skills, learning good attitudes about competition and setting and achieving personal goals. The program seeks to recognize each girl while encouraging her to set goals for he future,” according to a news release from the organization.

“It focuses on being natural, not on glitz and glam,” Fail said. “The program focuses on you and your personality. I think that's really important.”


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