Avon Lake’s Viancourt Places in National American Miss Pageant

Avon Lake’s Zoey Viancourt placed 25th last weekend at the Ohio competition for the National American Miss pageant in Columbus. Zoey was completing in a pool of 150 women.

Zoey, 13, competed in the junior teen division, for girls 13-15. It is the second year

“She got involved because it is a ‘natural’ pageant, very much about building self confidence and skills for the real world,” her mother, Jillian Viancourt, said.

Contestants are judged on formal wear (30 percent), personal introduction (30 percent), interview (30 percent) community involvement.

Zoey particulary enjoyed the personal introduction.

“I like going in front of people,” she said of the pageant, which also required being interviewed, round-robin style, with eight judges.

Her father, Joseph Viancourt, was her escort for formalwear.

In addition to Girl Scouts, Zoey is also involved with her church and volunteering at a women’s shelter.

Her favorite part, however, was dance, where Zoey performed a contemporary piece. Currently, she performs on a competitive dance team, Brandy Andrews Absolute Dance in Avon Lake.

She hopes to start an afterschool volunteer dance program for underprivileged children.

“Like kids who are latchkey, to keep them busy,” Zoey said.

The eighth-grader, who previously attended eighth-grade at St. Joseph School in Avon Lake, will attend Albert Einstein Academy in Westlake in the fall.

At the pageant, Zoey received second runner-up in the talent category and was invited to compete in the national talent competition at Disneyland this November.