The 16-year-old Clackamas High School student will move on to the national pageant in August -

Hailey Kilgore is no stranger to winning a competition, but the 16 year old at first did not hear her name called, when it was announced she was the winner of the 2015 Oregon’s Outstanding Teen competition last Friday night, June 26, in Seaside.

When she finally realized she had won, Kilgore said she didn’t start crying until she saw her mother in the audience.

Afterwards, she described the experience as “humbling and exciting.”

She will move on to the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen pageant in Orlando, Fla., on Aug. 1.

Talent, interview skills

Kilgore, a Happy Valley resident, will be a junior at Clackamas High School in the fall; she is familiar to locals through winning vocal competitions at the Clackamas County Fair and has been in the cast of plays and musicals at CHS over the last two years.

When she was 13, she was the winner of the Portland Teen Idol competition and was crowned National American Miss Oregon Pre-Teen, and went on to compete in the national NAM pageant held at Disneyland.

Although she said she has been in pageants since she was 9, this was her first time competing in the Oregon’s Outstanding Teen pageant, and it was also the first time when her vocal talent was a required element.

For her talent, she sang “Not For the Life of Me,” from the musical “Thoroughly Modern Millie.”

Her favorite part of the process was the interview, she said, noting that she had trained really hard for that required portion of the competition by keeping up with current events.

“The interview is the toughest aspect of this competition, and I set some goals for myself. I went into this with no self-doubt; I am really proud of that,” Kilgore said.

She is looking forward to the national pageant, noting that her fellow titleholders will be “the best of the best. They are all the top of their class and I am excited to watch all of their talent and to share my talent.”

Kilgore added, “I have watched Miss America since I was little. When I am competing, I have a strong mentality, train very hard, practice hard and believe in myself.”

Another Clackamas resident, Eva Busch, 15, placed in the top-10 at the Oregon’s Outstanding Teen competition.