By By JOHN EBY / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC - Just like her role model.
Miss Dowagiac Sarah Kathryn Ostyn, who plans to major in social work at Michigan State University after graduating from Union High, Saturday night followed in the footsteps of her mentor, 2003 queen Kristin Rose.
Her dancing - she's in her 14th year of ballet at Encore Performing Arts - landed Sarah a spot at the 2002 pageant as an eighth grader, when she and Ann O'Keefe performed in a jazz routine the night Jessica Cuthbert was coronated.
Not only could Kristin be Sarah's royal role model, but they go back to Parables Liturgical Dance Choir at First United Methodist Church.
Sarah is in her ninth year and succeeded Kristin as director when Rose graduated and left for Hope College in Holland.
Though not as tall as Kristin, Sarah also played center in basketball for the first time this season. Sarah attends Silver Creek United Methodist Church.
Sacred dance has taken her to Cleveland State University and to Franklin Pierce College in New Hampshire.
For a week this summer Sarah will teach classes for 100 students in Crystal Springs.
First Runner-up Kim Davis, daughter of Bill and Peggy Davis, wants to attend either the University of Notre Dame or St. Mary's College for a degree in dance and/or architecture.
Kim has been in Encore Dance Company and dancing since age 3. She works at Southwestern Michigan College and has been an intern with Cass County Juvenile Court. She is in National Honor Society and plays flute and drums.
Second Runner-Up Whitney Podell, daughter of Tim and Stacey Shreve, plans to attend SMC for a bachelor's degree in business, then transfer to Kalamazoo Valley Community College for a career in dental hygiene.
Miss Congeniality Melissa Manos, daughter of Dan and Doreen Manos, helps take tickets for football and basketball games at the middle school. She plans to attend Columbia College in Chicago to major in fashion design.
The new Performing Arts Center's spaciousness was especially appreciated by the contestants after the cramped quarters downstairs in the choir room at Central Middle School.
All five finalists burst at once from a huge pinata, catching the audience off guard.
Usually the announcement of the final five is dragged out for maximum dramatic effect.
Whitney said she would take a Dowagiac visitor “right downtown. That's where our town was based when P.D. Beckwith came to town and started this wonderful thing we have today.”
Sarah's favorite color is purple, but the 5-foot-6, blue-eyed blonde chose a beaded blue gown. She tried on about a dozen dresses in Elkhart, Ind., before deciding. “Going in, I wanted a bright pink dress.”
She also has a weekend job at the Foot Locker.