Zion Dailey was named winner of the third annual Miss Captivating Pageant this past Wednesday, Oct. 2. 

In her victory, Zion reminds young people to embrace their insecurities and the importance of confidence.  

“I wanted to give a chance for everybody who possibly feels insecure or is too nervous to come out and actually compete,” Dailey said. “I wanted to show them that you can be yourself and have fun with everything you do without overthinking it”. 

“I just wanted to have fun,” Dailey said. “I shut out the doubt, prayed, of course, and had fun.” 

The event, hosted by Marshall Black United Students, was held at 7 p.m. in the university’s Don Morris Room. Here, plenty of Marshall University students, faculty, family and more showed up to support the contestants. 

When describing the pageant BUS President Kaiy Baker said, “The Miss Captivating Scholarship pageant is an event that allows young college women to showcase themselves beyond beautify and develop leadership skills, confidence and creativity. This event is meant to be fun and allow the contestants to get to know each other and get out of their comfort zones.”

The contestants included Cheyenne Chapman, Kalkedan Ameha, Miya Limes, Nevaeh Bright, Niyah Sapp and Zion Dailey.

The contestants competed in a series of contests including “Corporate Baddie,” “90’s Y2K Fashion,” “Country Fashion,” “Talent Show,” “Met Gala” and a questions segment. 

“My favorite part was the cowgirl because of my poses and the speech,” Dailey said. “I’m from the city, not from the country, so I got the chance to show my goofy side. With the speech, I got a chance to show my passion.” 

At the end of the event, three awards were given: Miss Congeniality, Audience Choice and Miss Captivating. 

 Previous pageant winners Daviya Leggett (2022) and Cyrah Moore (2023) were in attendance to support and congratulate the new Miss Captivating. 

Greg Jones can be contacted at [email protected].