Jordan Libby crowned Miss Sonoma County

An enthusiastic crowd of over 250 people watched as Santa Rosa Junior College student Jordan Libby was crowned this year’s Miss Sonoma County at Spreckels Performing Arts Center over the weekend.

The 19-year old theater major walked away with the crown, an $1,800 scholarship and an all expenses paid trip to compete for the Miss California title in Fresno this June.

Over 30 girls originally tried out for the pageant, and of the 11 semi-finalists, four were Sonoma State students and two were Rancho Cotati graduates.

The girls were judged on a combination of talent, counting for 35 percent of their total score; a previously held interview, 25 percent; evening wear, 20 percent; swimsuit, 15 percent and an onstage question, 5 percent.

The talent portion ranged from folk, jazz and samba dances; vocal performances; acting monologues and a presentation of original oil paintings.

“The winner, I’d never heard her sing before — she’s dynamite,” said Reba Roberts, a pageant interview consultant, said of Libby’s performance of “Brand New You” from the musical 13. “It was an amazing show, I’m very pleased. We had a lot of really good talent on that stage tonight.”

Libby was crowned by 2010’s Miss Sonoma County, Alison Levie.

“It still hasn’t sunk in quite yet,” Levie said of the end of her reign.  “I’ve done pageants before, but this one really meant a lot to me, because it was Sonoma County and my hometown. I worked the hardest for this pageant. This title meant the most to me so it’s probably the hardest to give up.”

The first runner up was 20-year old SRJC student Alexandria Collis. Three Sonoma State freshmen rounded out the rest of the runners-up category: Carly Tompkins took second, Ashley Kimball is third and Jessica Greer is the fourth runner up.

Kimball, who was also voted Miss Congeniality by the other contestants, said she felt “extremely relieved and very sweaty” after the show.

“It’s nice to know through all the chaos that I still appear to be nice to people," she said. "I really appreciate that and it was really sweet of the girls to give that to me.” 

Kimball performed “La Reina Benita” on violin for her talent portion, a piece she composed herself in only 15 minutes.

Greer, a kinestheology major and Sebastopol native, said she felt thrilled to place at her first pageant. “I’ve been so honored to work with all these ladies and the volunteers. Jordan’s my best friend from high school and I’m so happy for her.”

The six judges included local volunteers from the Miss California organization, including Kjerstin Erickson, the 2002 Miss Sonoma County winner. In a speech, Erickson credited the pageant with giving her the confidence and poise that would later help her create FORGE, a non-profit organization that works with refugees in Africa.

A total of $6,200 in scholarship money was distributed at the pageant, contributing to Miss America’s status as the largest scholastic benefactor to women in the world. This is the 64th annual Miss Sonoma County pageant, making it the longest running scholarship pageant in the state.