BOLIVAR, Mo. — Zack Wallgren, a computer science and mathematics major from Wentzville,
and Hanna Glasgow, an elementary education major from Grove, Okla., won the titles
of Mr. and Miss Southwest at the annual pageant on Friday, March 4, at Southwest Baptist
University.
Eight candidates were nominated by SBU faculty and staff and voted upon by the student body for the purpose of selecting a pair of students to represent the Bearcat family for the next year.
This year’s other candidates were Brenna Allen of Moundville; Madisyn Best of Kansas City; Austyn Lucas of Divernon, Ill.; Tyler Bellmyer of Bates City; Ben Yoder of Lee’s Summit; and Andrew Masters of Villa Ridge.
The pageant featured introductory videos and a talent presentation by each candidate, followed by a round of online voting to determine the top four candidates, who then participated in question-and-answer sessions. A final round of voting determined the winners.
Newly inaugurated SBU President Dr. Rick Melson also participated in the event with a question-and-answer session of his own, with hosts Keiton Johnson and Britney Clark.
During the talent competition, Wallgren performed a combination of stand-up comedy and impressions.
“I was thinking, ‘What’s the one thing I want to do?’” Wallgren said. “I never anticipated being here, so I just wanted to make people laugh. That was my only goal. I was just going to do impressions, and then I thought about stand-up. I was like, ‘What if I just use the stand-up to string together impressions that are entirely unrelated,’ and that’s how it came together.”
Wallgren, who plans to work as a programmer at a large company in the tech field after
graduation, was both honored and surprised to be named Mr. Southwest.
“It’s this insane honor,” Wallgren said. “I’ve always just considered myself as a student. I’m just an RA out of Memo (Memorial Hall). But now, winning that, it’s really hard to put into words – I’m mostly surprised.”
Glasgow was inspired by her younger sister in her vocal performance of “Part of Your World,” from “The Little Mermaid.”
“I love Disney; I love Disney princesses,” Glasgow said. “My little sister is in high school back in my hometown, and she is playing Ariel in ‘The Little Mermaid’ this weekend. I didn’t get to go tonight, but I’m going tomorrow night to watch her. I’m just really proud of her and I wanted to sing that in honor of her.”
Glasgow, who wants to teach third grade after graduation, said that while she was shocked to be nominated, it is “a huge honor” to be voted Miss Southwest.
“I love it here,” Glasgow said. “I love the school and I love everything that I’ve been able to be a part of on campus. I just think it’s an honor to be able to be a person who can represent the school in a Christ-honoring way.”
The beginnings of the “Miss Southwest” pageant date back to the 1930s, with “Mr. Southwest” being added in 1963. The pageant, which was organized by the students of SBU’s University Activities Council, was one of the keynote happenings of Bearcat Days, a visit event in which admitted students considering SBU attendance were hosted on campus, as well as a part of the Presidential Inauguration Week.
A recording of the pageant is available at: www.SBUniv.info/MMSW22. For more information about Mr. and Miss Southwest, contact Student Life Coordinator Mollie Banks, at mbanks@SBUniv.edu.
PHOTO 1: 2022 Mr. and Miss Southwest – Zack Wallgren and Hanna Glasgow.
PHOTO 2: 2022 Mr. and Miss Southwest candidates (left to right) Tyler Bellmyer, Ben
Yoder, Andrew Masters, Zack Wallgren, Hanna Glasgow, Madisyn Best, Brenna Allen and
Austyn Lucas.
*Published: 3-4-2022