Miss South Carolina Pageant
Davia Bunch of Spartanburg was crowned Miss South Carolina on Saturday. Sydney Ford, Miss Greater Greer, was first runnerup.
The 21-year-old from Spartanburg is a student at the University of South Carolina. First runner-up Sydney Ford of Gaffney, competed as Miss Greater Greer.
Sydney Sill, from Duncan, was second runnerup. She competed as Miss Clemson.
The other finalists were River City, Morgan Romono, third runnerup; and Miss Columbia, Alexandra Badgett, fourth runnerup.
Bunch received the crown from 2017 Miss South Carolina Suzi Roberts, the former Miss Columbia, and will compete for the title of Miss America in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 9. The competition will be televised on ABC.
Bunch, a University of South Carolina junior, won $40,000 in scholarships toward her education. In all, the Miss South Carolina pageant handed out more than $165,000 in scholarship money.
The contestants also raised more than $169,000 for the Children's Miracle Network in South Carolina.
This is the last year of swimsuit competition for Miss South Carolina and Miss America. Next year, the pageant will feature a fitness component with the contestants performing a set fitness routine of jumps, squats, pushups and poses.
The Top 16 competed in swimsuit, the final swimsuit competition in Miss South Carolina history since the Miss American Organization decided to get rid of it starting at the national pageant in September 2018. The swimsuit competition was worth 15 percent of the contestant's total score.
Miss SC Top 16:
- Miss Woodruff, Neely Lambert, People's Choice Award.
- Miss Capital City, Jada Samuel
- Miss Laurens County, Ansley Seay
- Miss Upstate, Brooklyn Garrett
- Miss Columbia, Alexandra Badgett
- Miss Clemson, Sydney Sill
- Miss Travelers Rest, Emily Holbert
- Miss Greenville Scottish Games, Ali Bradley
- Miss Darlington, Sarah Floyd
- Miss Spartanburg, Davia Bunch
- Miss Teal and Bronze, Brooke Vu
- Miss Boiling Springs, Kendyl Pennington
- Miss Pee Dee, Morgan Elvis
- Miss River City, Morgan Romano
- Miss Greater Greer, Sydney Ford
- Miss Clarendon, Mikeya Murphy
The Top 10 performed their talents, worth 30 percent of the total score, the highest in the competition. The Top 10 also performed in evening gown which is 20 percent of the score.
Miss SC Top 10:
- Miss Darlington, Sarah Floyd, sang opera.
- Miss Columbia, Alexandra Badgett, tapped dance to a rendition of Justin Timberlake's "suit and tie".
- Miss Capital City, Jada Samuel, performed a monologue.
- Miss Clemson, Sydney Sill, tapped danced to the "Greatest Show" from the "Greatest Showman".
- Miss Greenville Scottish Games, Ali Bradley performed a lyrical dance.
- Miss River City, Morgan Romano, tapped to "Don't Cry for Me Argentina" by Madonna.
- Miss Spartanburg, Davia Bunch, performed ballet en pointe.
- Miss Boiling Springs, Kendyl Pennington, tapped danced to "Can't Buy Me Love".
- Miss Clarendon, Mikeya Murphy, sang "Hallelujah".
- Miss Greater Greer, Sydney Ford, performed a jazz dance to "Perm" by Bruno Mars.
The Top 5 answered the "On Stage Question".
- Miss Clemson, Sydney Sill, answered a question on the White House's immigration policy.
- Miss Spartanburg, Davia Bunch, answered a question on religious beliefs and business.
- Miss River City, Morgan Romano, answered a question on businesses looking at a person's social media profiles during the job interview process.
- Miss Greater Greer, Sydney Ford, answered a question on celebrities being involved in social issues and politics.
- Miss Columbia, Alexandra Badgett, answered a question on gun control.
Sill also won the overall highest score in swimsuit. Davia won talent.