By BRENT MARTIN
Emotions nearly overwhelmed Courtney Rowe before hearing that she had won the title of Miss Missouri.
The KQ2 anchor, competing as Miss Kansas City, will now compete in the Miss America pageant.
Rowe says emotions run through the entire week of competition at the Missouri Military Academy in Mexico.
“Honestly, the heart palpitations really are there throughout the entire week, but especially when they announced that top five,” Rowe says during a visit to KFEQmmunity. “You never really know how the turn out is going to be until you get to that top five. Like, wow, okay, I’m a contender in this.”
Not just a contender, but the winner.
“I just remember hearing them announce the runner-up’s name, which meant that I was Miss Missouri,” Rowe says. “I think I blacked out when I was on stage.”
Rowe says the heart palpitations are real.
“Throughout every day of that week I just tried to remind myself you could be Miss Missouri; you could walk away from this as Miss Missouri,” Rowe says. “I spent nine months before the competition as Miss Kansas City and every appearance I did, every volunteer hour I put in, I really tried to emulate what I would think Miss Missouri would do. I really tried to change my mindset and go into the week as Miss Missouri.”
The win was an accumulation of five years of competing, which first began as Miss Mozingo Lake, a nod to Rowe’s days as a Northwest Missouri State University student in Maryville. Rowe competed this year as Miss Kansas City, representing her hometown. Rowe has learned a lot over the five years of competition, a lot about what it takes to compete and a lot about herself.
“It takes a lot of mental strength,” Rowe says. “You have to know your limits and you also have to be willing to push yourself to do things and try things that might make you a little uncomfortable.”
The biggest thing Lowe learned about herself during the week of competition was that she actually was capable of being crowned Miss Missouri. And Lowe says she felt the support from her community throughout the entire week in Mexico.
“That was one of the biggest surprises to myself, feeling the love from my community of course here in St. Joseph and the girls that I competed with has really made it all worth it.”
Now, Rowe competes in the Miss America pageant which will be held in September.
You can follow Brent on X @GBrentKFEQ.