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Issue date: 2/22/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Ashley Mayle DROP DEAD GORGEOUS: Sophomore Ashley Mayle poses moments after winning the Miss Fiesta San Antonio Scholarship Pageant 2008 on Feb. 9. With the crown, she will travel and participate in Fiesta and community events.

Earlier this month, Sophomore Ashley Mayle won the 2008 Miss Fiesta San Antonio Scholarship Pageant. The pageant, which occurred Feb. 9 at the Charline McCombs Empire Theatre in downtown San Antonio, is open to all women between the ages of 18 and 23. Applicants must be single and attend a college or university in Bexar or surrounding counties, according to the Miss Fiesta San Antonio Web site.

A former Miss Schertz in 2006, Mayle is not a stranger to pageant competition. In fact, an appearance by the previous Miss Fiesta at a Schertz pageant planted the idea of competing for the Miss Fiesta title in Mayle's mind.

"I went on the Internet and looked it up and debated until the day the application was due on whether or not I wanted to enter," Mayle said.

Upon completion of the initial application, competitors were then narrowed down based on the application itself, according to Mayle. The top 15 finalists were chosen based on interviews with judges who serve on the San Antonio Fiesta Commission Board.

Although Mayle was the sole Trinity representative, many of the other finalists attend University of the Incarnate Word, St. Mary's University and the University of Texas at San Antonio, Mayle said.

According to Mayle, finalists are required to attend rehearsals every Saturday from November through February. As the actual event drew near, the rehearsals increased to two and three times per week, with competitors working on etiquette, practice interview questions, information about Fiesta and walking in an evening gown.
"She had been working really hard on it outside of school to put things together," Holly Baird, sophomore and Mayle's roommate said. "She was gone about every Wednesday evening, and on Saturday she would leave at about 8:30 [a.m.] and we wouldn't see her again until 4 [p.m.]."

In addition to purchasing and tailoring an evening gown, contestants also were required to perform a skit based on the accomplishments of a famous Texas woman during the actual competition. The process, which every contestant worked on individually, included writing the script, supplying props and a costume and dealing with lighting and sound for the monologue.

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