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Miss Illinois 2009 Erin O'Connor. (Courtesy photo)
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Miss Macomb 2010 Kelsey Reed (by Adam Sacasa of the McDonough County Voice)
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Miss Mississippi Crown 2010 Holley Begyn, photographed in WIU's Donald S. Spencer Student Recreation Center. (by Adam Sacasa of the McDonough County Voice) See Begyn's Miss Mississippi Crown pageant picture at http://mississippicrown.com.
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WIU Well Represented at Miss Illinois Pageant

June 10, 2010

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MACOMB, IL — When the reigning Miss Illinois Erin O'Connor crowns the 2010 Miss Illinois, there's a 2-in-24 chance that the Western Illinois University theatre major could pass the crown along to another WIU student.

Miss Macomb Kelsey Reed (Quincy, IL), a senior communication major (with minors in dance, broadcasting and marketing), and Miss Mississippi Crown Holley Begyn (Taylor Ridge, IL), a graduate student studying kinesiology, are two of the contestants in the 2010 Miss Illinois Pageant. Preliminary rounds will be held Thursday-Friday June 17-18, with the finals scheduled for Saturday, June 19 at the Norris Cultural Arts Center in St. Charles. Events begin at 7 p.m. nightly.

Miss Illinois Scholarship Association Pageant, which helps provide participating young women of Illinois opportunities to enhance their personal and professional development through scholarship programs, is a preliminary contest in the Miss America Organization, one of the nation's leading achievement programs and the world's largest provider of scholarship assistance for young women.
Educational advancement, achievement and public service are the primary objectives of the Miss America Organization. (www.missamerica.org)

Miss Macomb is Reed's inaugural pageant and title. Begyn, however, was a contestant in the 2009 Miss Illinois pageant as the Miss Blackhawk Valley titleholder.

"Last year was my first pageant within the Miss America system, and I had the opportunity to serve Rock Island, Mercer and Henry counties with the title Miss Blackhawk Valley 2009," Begyn said. "I decided to enter the Miss Mississippi Crown 2010 pageant because of my phenomenal experience and growth last year as a titleholder. The scholarships that are awarded within the Miss America Organization are amazing."

Both Reed and Begyn have been members of Western's celebrated University Dance Theatre (UDT), and both will dance for their talent in the Miss Illinois Pageant. Reed will perform a contemporary dance to Alicia Keys "Heartburn," which was choreographed by UDT dancer Keri Dahm (Hanover Park, IL).

"The song was one that I've always thought was extremely upbeat and exciting, and the lyrics were a fun way to promote my platform of heart health ("Heart Health and Disease Prevention for Every Generation")," said Reed, who added that she chose this issue "because my family has been deeply affected by various forms of heart disease. As for her choreographer, "Keri has choreographed and danced in many competitions prior to UDT, and I knew that she would bring creative and difficult aspects to this pageant dance."

Reed, who "began dancing at about the time I started walking, 22-months old," knew just about every type of dance, except modern dance. So she auditioned for UDT as a freshman and "fell in love with the organization and with modern dance." She has been a teacher's assistant for modern dance classes, performed in five concerts, choreographed in the company and participated in three American College Dance Festival Association (ACDFA) regional conferences. In March, Reed was part of two dance numbers that received an invitation to be adjudicated at the ACDFA Central Conference, hosted by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. While there, she also participated in a variety of technique, composition, improvisation and cultural dance classes.

Begyn, who also has been dancing since she was a child, will present a jazz dance in the Miss Illinois Pageant. Her platform is "Heart Health—Movement is the Medicine."

"Heart disease is the No. 1 killer in the United States. I want to encourage everyone to start some type of movement to decrease the risk of this disease," Begyn said.

As a freshman, Begyn earned a spot on Western's cheerleading team. Her sophomore year she "decided to forgo cheerleading and focus on my academics. However, in my junior year I missed dancing so I added dance (and UDT) to my curriculum."

Begyn, 23, is a master's degree student in kinesiology at Western. She earned her Bachelor of Science degree in exercise science with minors in nutrition and dance in Summer 2009 at WIU. Begyn plans to earn a doctorate in kinesiology to "educate others at a university level interested in this fascinating field of exercise," she added.

Begyn has coached the Macomb High School cheerleaders, and she is a longtime coach of a Quad Cities All-Star girls' cheerleading team. A 2005 graduate of Taylor Ridge High School, she is the daughter of Kathleen and Patrick Begyn of Taylor Ridge.

Reed, 21, said her communication major and her minors will provide her many different career opportunities. She completed a marketing and communications internship in Summer 2009 at Reed Promotional Media, her father's advertising agency in Quincy. This summer she is scheduled for an internship in outside sales with University Directories.

A 2007 graduate of Quincy High School, where she was a Q-City Pommer, Reed is the daughter of Kevin and Ann Reed of Quincy.

On the Miss Illinois website (www.missillinois.org), current crown holder O'Connor states that she will return to Western in Fall 2010 as a senior to finish her bachelor's degree in theatre—acting. She may also pursue a Master of Fine Arts in theatre.

Reflecting on the multitude of events, appearances and engagements she participated in this past year, O'Connor wrote in her blog (at missillinois.org) that the best part of being Miss Illinois, "is having the opportunity to be an advocate for causes I feel passionately about; character education, mentoring and honoring my mother with my platform of skin cancer prevention."

O'Connor is the daughter of Terrence O'Connor and the late Mary Kay O'Connor of Evergreen Park (IL) and a graduate of Mother McAuley Liberal Arts High School (Chicago).

Posted By: University Communications (U-Communications@wiu.edu)
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