Hometown Girl Courtney Pizzimenti Represents Michigan in Miss Teen USA Pageant

At 6:30 a.m. this morning, 18-year-old Oakland Township resident Courtney Pizzimenti boards a plane heading to the Bahamas.

Vacation? Not quite.

Pizzimenti is competing in the Miss Teen USA pageant this Saturday after she was named Miss Michigan Teen USA in October 2011.

“I feel ready. I don’t think there’s much more I can do to prepare,” Pizzimenti said.

Support and preparation

“The first four days I’m there, I’ll be with all the other girls and I don’t get to see my family at all,” Pizzimenti said.

Pizzimenti has a caravan of family and friends flying down to the Bahamas for support:

• Her parents, Don and Michelle
• Her two sisters and brother
• Both sets of grandparents
• Her aunts and cousins from California
• Her aunt and cousin from Wisconsin
• Shannon Grace Sokol, Courtney's family friend and mentor, and her family
• Friends from the neighborhood and from Texas

Pizzimenti met with Executive Director of Miss Universe Melissa Pitchford four days ago in Ohio, where they practiced mock interviews and her walk.

“I didn’t realize how prepared I already was, so I feel a lot better about this weekend and I’m not nervous at all,” Pizzimenti said.

Pitchford coordinates with Courtney and the other contestants on behalf of the Miss Universe Organization.

“She (Melissa) is in charge of my sponsors and helps me with whatever I need,” Pizzimenti said.

Shannon Grace Sokol, Pizzimenti’s family friend and pageant mentor, helped Courtney with her walk and to pack for the Bahamas.

“I’ve gotten really close to her (Shannon) during the past year. Whenever I need help or have any questions, she’s who I turn to,” Pizzimenti said.

Sokol originally pointed Courtney in the direction of modeling a few years ago, which she has been doing ever since.

Pizzimenti has been receiving free products, styling and advice from Luigi Bruni in Birmingham.

"They've given me a lot of help and helped me play around with hairstyle ideas," Pizzimenti said.

Pizzimenti plans to wear her hair down and curly during the opening number and bathing suit portions of the pageant, and in a low bun with her evening gown.

“I’ve finished getting my wardrobe ready and picked up my dress today,” Pizzimenti said.

For her evening gown, Pizzimenti picked out a Sherri Hill dress from Henri’s Cloud Nine in Ohio.

Greg Walczak of Elite Fitness Training in Birmingham has been giving Pizzimenti fitness lessons to prepare for the pageant this past year.

Pizzimenti wanted to thank Miss Michigan USA, Kristen Danyal, for helping her along the way and getting her involved with the Pink Fund, a non-profit organization that assists patients with breast cancer to help pay their bills.

The competition

Being crowned Miss Michigan Teen USA was Pizzimenti's first pageant experience, and she beat about 40 other girls.

Pizzimenti will compete against 49 others in Saturday's pageant, most of whom will have plenty of pageant experience.

The preliminary round begins Friday night, where all 50 contestants will model their opening number, swimsuit and evening gown.  

Judges interview the girls on Saturday morning, and the rest of the day is spent rehearsing while the judges decide the top 15 contestants.

Saturday evening the top 15 will model their opening number, swimsuit and evening gown again before the judges narrow the field down to five girls.  

Finally, the top five answer one more question before the judges choose a winner (in ascending order) to be the new Miss Teen USA.

Life goes on after the pageant

"Right now I want to focus on school, so I'm still undecided if I'll do another pageant or not," Pizzimenti said.

Pizzimenti graduated from  and will major in advertising and marketing communications at New York City's Fashion Institute of Technology this fall.

“I’m really excited to join my family and friends on the beach and go swimming with the dolphins once the pageant is over,” Pizzimenti said.

Aside from swimming with the dolphins, Pizzimenti is more excited about riding the “Leap of Faith,” a giant water slide with a 60-foot almost vertical drop from a Mayan Temple, which then submerges riders into a clear tunnel in a shark-filled lagoon.