By NICK GOSNELL
Hutch Post
HUTCHINSON, Kan. — Miss Kansas 2021 Taylor Clark was crowned last weekend in Pratt. For her, it was really a culmination of years of dreaming about winning the title.
"I am still absolutely on cloud nine, it doesn't quite seem real yet," Clark said. "This was my first time competing at Miss Kansas as a candidate, but, I grew up in St. John, which is about 25 miles north of Pratt and so I grew up involved with the Miss Kansas organization because we were so close and my family has a lot of ties to Pratt, so when I was five, in 2005, was the first year of the Sunflower Princess program, or now it's called the Sunflower Mentoring program. I got to go and be mentored by the contestants and it was just a really fun time for me to get to go on stage and see everyone do their talents and talk about community service, so from that point on, I just knew I wanted to stay involved and compete someday."
Clark won the Miss Kansas Outstanding Teen competition in 2017.
"I had a wonderful experience that year, getting to travel Kansas, go to the national competition and just really get to meet with a lot of people from across the state and serve and talk to a lot of kiddos. I just loved the experience."
Clark won the Miss Augusta competition to qualify for Miss Kansas. She also won a preliminary talent contest award for her drumming. She was named the Pam Matlock Rookie of the Year and won the overall title. Her total scholarship winnings this year thus far are over $10,500. She hopes this year to be able to show the importance of music education, as that is what she is going to school for at Kansas State.
"Percussion and drumming in general is a very male dominated field," Clark said. "I'm one of very few women I know that is competing, not only in this organization, but just playing in general. There are more women now, but even at K-State this last year, I was the only woman in the percussion studio. Being able to share my talent on the Miss Kansas stage, I was the only woman there doing that and perhaps the only woman who has ever done that at the Miss Kansas competition. It was just a huge blessing for me. It's absolutely what I love to do."
Clark will take the year off from her studies to fulfill her Miss Kansas obligations and then return next year to finish her degree. The 100th anniversary Miss America competition will be broadcast live in December 2021 from the Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.