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11/09/2017
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JOHN DeROSIER Staff Writer Sep 11, 2017 (3)
Miss New Jersey Kaitlyn Schoeffel, of Egg Harbor Township, said she felt like she was dreaming as she continued to advance during Sunday night’s finals in Atlantic City. More photos on
EGG HARBOR TOWNSHIP — Miss New Jersey Kaitlyn Schoeffel had 657 pending notifications on her Facebook page Monday morning after competing in the 2018 Miss America Competition.
They were all messages congratulating her on an outstanding performance Sunday night on national television.
Schoeffel, 24, of Egg Harbor Township, was the second runner-up of 51 contestants, behind only Miss Missouri Jennifer Davis and Miss North Dakota Cara Mund, who was crowned Miss America 2018.
With the third-place finish, Schoeffel was elevated into an elite class of state pageant contestants, becoming just the seventh Miss New Jersey to finish in the top three and the first in the top 10 since Jill Horner in 2001.
“The whole thing was like an out-of-body experience,” Schoeffel said Monday. “There are no words to describe the emotions I was having, because it was so unique and so special. I felt like I was dreaming.”
Round by round, competition host Chris Harrison kept calling Schoeffel back to the center of the stage by announcing, “The hometown girl Kaitlyn Schoeffel is moving on!”
The more times Schoeffel advanced, the better she felt she performed. She danced to the song “Shut Up and Dance” for the last time on the Miss America stage and she said she couldn’t have done it any better.
“I have never danced so hard in my entire life,” said Schoeffel, whose mother owns Miss Margot’s Ensemble Arts dance studio in the Cardiff Plaza. “I think I smacked my head with my own foot when I did one of my jumps.”
After that, however, came the toughest part of the competition.
The Miss America Organization changed its format this year so that each contestant had to answer two on-stage questions instead of one.
The first question, which was meant to be nonpolitical and light-hearted, immediately knocked out Miss Louisiana Laryssa Bonacquisti after she failed to think of something that everyone loves but that she considers overrated.
Bonacquisti, who dominated the preliminary rounds by winning the swimsuit and talent competitions, yelled out the word “rompers,” referring to the popular one-piece outerwear that many young women wear, as time expired. But the stumble cost her a chance to move on.
Schoeffel did not appear to have any problem answering questions. She smiled and answered the first question by saying she would like to date a doctor over an athlete or an actor because she thinks intelligence is attractive in men.
For her second question, she said that confederate statues displayed in the United States should be put in museums instead of being destroyed because they are part of American history.
“My strategy for that was simple: Just listen to the question and then answer it,” Schoeffel said, adding she understands some people will disagree with her opinion on the statues.
Her answer to put the statues in museums to teach American history, however, garnered a loud round of applause from the thousands of people in the audience in Boardwalk Hall.
Still, her overall score came up just short, and Miss North Dakota Cara Mund won the crown.
Schoeffel, who will now go down as one of the most successful Miss New Jerseys competing in Miss America, said she would not change a thing about any of her performances.
“I’m still just processing everything. While I was there, I really tried to take mental screenshots and capture the moments,” she said. “It was an incredible experience and something I will never forget.”
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