Photo Courtesy of Houston M Photography
Kennedie Clinton is no stranger to pageants. The former Florida Strawberry Festival Queen, who dazzled as she represented the Festival and Plant City, competed twice in the Miss Florida Teen USA in recent years, each time becoming a semi-finalist but never winning the title.
As they say, the third time’s the charm. All this experience, and perseverance, added up to her crowning moment on July 7 in Coral Springs, when Clinton won the title of 2024 Miss Florida Teen USA.
“It’s a literal dream come true,” said Clinton, who will be a freshman at Auburn University in the fall. “People told me that after competing twice in the same pageant I should give up but I kept working for it and left my heart on the stage and now I get this absolutely incredible opportunity.”
Clinton, who knew it was her last year of eligibility competing in teen pageants, went into the pageant with an open heart and an open mind. “I was just myself and decided that if it was meant to be, it would be,” she said.
When her name was called in the top 16 after the preliminary competition, tears welled up in her eyes. “I had prayed that they would call my name seventh if it was meant to be and then I was called as the seventh contestant,” she said. “It was a sign for me to keep going and keep trying.”
Following the fitness and evening gown phase, the top 16 were again brought back to the stage to be whittled down to the top five. She recalls four finalists being called and then standing with the remaining 12 contestants, all waiting to hear the name of the finalist. “When they called my name as the last finalist I had to stop myself from crying because I didn’t want to ruin my makeup,” said Clinton. “Seeing my mom, coach and friends in the audience celebrating, I already felt like a winner because I had accomplished my small goal of getting into the top five.”
Each finalist answered an on-stage interview question, when she quoted a Taylor Swift song and talked about perseverance. “I got to talk about how I had competed three times in the Miss Florida Teen USA pageant and hadn’t given up but just kept improving,” she said. “I wanted to encourage other girls to persevere even if they didn’t get the reward they wanted, that’s it’ll be okay as long as you keep going and don’t give up on your goals.”
When the final five contestants were brought back on stage for the crowning ceremony, and as each runner-up’s name was called, the five became four, became three and then two finalists waited for their fate. “I was looking down and praying, and when they called Brianna Avelar’s name as the first runner-up I started clapping for her and then it hit me that I was Miss Florida Teen USA,” she said. “I was bawling, absolutely sobbing, I was surprised my makeup stayed on.”
Clinton will be representing Florida, competing at the 73rd Miss Teen USA pageant in Hollywood, California. The pageant will air live on Thurs., Aug. 1 on the CW Network at 8 p.m.
She’s hoping to bring home a win for Florida. “All I can do is try my best and that’s what I plan to do at Miss Teen USA,” she said. “I’m just happy to be supporting my Plant City family and hope to make them proud.”