Cari Jo Carmody claims Miss Manti title

By James Tilson

Staff writer

5-31-2018

MANTI—On the night when Manti wanted to celebrate “The Greatest Show,” the winner of the 2018 Miss Manti Scholarship Pageant celebrated becoming the “princess” she always wanted to become.

Cari Jo Carmody was crowned Miss Manti last Thursday night at Manti High School. The Theme for the pageant was “The Greatest Show,” however, when asked what her career ambitions were after winning, Carmody replied, “I want to be a Disney Princess!”

Carmody is the daughter of Thomas and Candy Carmody, and is a junior at Manti High School. Her talent performance was a ballet solo, performed to a Nutcracker medley. The dance itself was made even more difficult by an injury Carmody had suffered before the pageant. “It was really hard,” she said. “I had broken my foot a couple of weeks ago. It made it really hard to do my dance performance, but I made it through and it was great.”

Carmody said she has always wanted to be Miss Manti – “This is a childhood dream. It is so great to finally be here.”

As the winner of the Miss Manti Scholarship Pageant, Carmody will be the recipient of a $1,500 scholarship.

The First Attendant was Whitney Dyreng, daughter of Darren and Michelle Dyreng, and winner of a $500 scholarship. Second Attendant was Kathryn Christensen, daughter of Alan and Becky Christensen, and winner of a $300 scholarship. Keslee Cox, daughter of Kelli Sargent and Jerry Cox, was named Miss Congeniality, which came with a $20 gift certificate from Wild Roots Salon.