Miss Mankato won the Miss Minnesota contest Saturday night and will be competing for the title of Miss America in January.
Jennifer Hudspeth, 22, outshone 14 other contestants in the scholarship competition at the Eden Prairie Arts Center and will advance to the national contest — the first Miss Mankato to do that since 1981.
“She just had the full package,” said Shelly Bartlett, the director of the Miss Mankato competition. “... She’s just beautiful — inside and out.”
Hudspeth’s platform in the competition is autism awareness. Two of her three brothers have autism.
Hudspeth isn’t actually from Mankato. The Apple Valley native and resident was a Minnesota State University student, graduating with a degree in theater arts last year.
The Saturday night ceremony capped a week-long competition that included visits to a children’s hospital, an appearance at the Metrodome for a Twins game, a golf tournament and more. And Hudspeth began working hard long before this week, Bartlett said.
Since she was crowned Miss Mankato in January, she’s been preparing for the state competition.
“She ran, she worked out, she ate right,” Bartlett said.
Bartlett also brought her to this year’s Miss America competition to inspire her.
“It worked,” Bartlett said.
Hudspeth is the first Miss Mankato to win the state competition and advance to the national event since 1981 when Elizabeth Ruyak won. There was a more recent Miss Mankato/Miss Minnesota, however. Susan Johnson became Miss Minnesota in 1988 to replace Gretchen Carlson, who won the state competition and went on to become Miss America.
Hudspeth’s next appearance in Mankato will be the North Mankato Fun Days parade on July 7. She will also be making local appearances in conjunction with the National Night Out on Aug. 7.
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