She’s an incoming freshman at Ocean City High School
OCEAN CITY — Sarah Smith, who believes it is important to present her real self at all times, was crowned Junior Miss Ocean City 2025 on Saturday night at the Ocean City Music Pier.
“This is so cool. This has been a dream of mine. This is my fifth Ocean City pageant and the third time is a charm because I have been first runner-up twice,” Sarah said.
“The interview I (won) last year but the on-stage question was so surprising to me,” she said about the preliminary awards she received.
In her answer to the on-stage question, Sarah talked about the importance of being herself and not putting on airs no matter what she is doing, including being in front of judges.
“The judges can only see so much in a day and sometimes people can be different outside of the pageant, so it is important to be yourself in the interview so they see who you truly are,” she said.
The 14-year-old, who will be a freshman starting next month at Ocean City High School, is a busy girl.
“I dance, sing, act and do various school clubs,” she said, adding with a laugh, “and now pageant stuff.”
“It felt so awesome,” she said of having the crown placed atop her head, “but Sarah Avellino kept telling me to get down lower because I was taller than her.” (In spite of her outsized stage presence, Avellino, who held the crown the past year, is one of the more petite Junior Miss Ocean City winners.)
“It felt incredible. It was like a dream,” Sarah said, noting this pageant was extra special because of the six other girls she faced.
“I knew every girl I competed with this year outside of the pageant and it made the pageant so much fun. We got to have deep conversations backstage and we didn’t have to go through a period of getting to know each other because we were already friends.”
“I’m incredibly proudof her,” older sister Ashley Rosskowski said. “She was the bomb.”
Her son, Sarah’s nephew Miles, articulated that he was 3 years old and wanted to find Sarah so he could hug her. “She has done an amazing job. She makes me a very proud big sister.”
Sarah is the daughter of Kate and Jim Smith.
“I’m so excited. She has worked so hard for years. She has had so much fun at every pageant,” her mom said. “She always says it doesn’t matter if she wins or loses, but I think she really wanted to win this one.”
“And she loves being with little kids, so the Wacky Wednesdays will be her time to shine,” Kate Smith added.
Ocean City’s Wacky Wednesdays are some of the many family-oriented programs over which the resort’s royalty — Junior Miss Ocean City, Miss Ocean City and Little Miss Ocean City — get to preside. Those contests are silly, attract scores of children and include taffy sculpting and pie-eating.
“We know most of the girls and they’ve been doing it for years. The talent is unbelievable and we knew it was going to be really close. They’re all such great funs I know it was fun for them,” Kate Smith said.
That anticipation was showing on Sarah’s face after she won two preliminary awards and the emcee had announced the first and second runners-up.
Two of the girls, first runner-up Arianna DiAntonio, winner of the talent competition, and second runner-up Lyla Clark, winner of the poise and composure award, are former Little Miss Ocean City winners. The girls competed together in both Little Miss and Junior Miss pageants.
“I am really proud of her. She puts a lot of hard work in and really enjoys it,” said her dad Jim Smith, a former chief of the Ocean City Fire Department.
“I think she’ll be a great ambassador for the city,” he added.
Noting his retirement earlier this summer, he said he is now “an official pageant dad. I’m looking forward to spending more time with Sarah. That will be fantastic.”
Sarah echoed her mom’s comment about dealing with children. She is most looking forward to “all the parades and getting to wave to all the kids. I’m so excited. That’s my favorite part of being in parades, getting to wave at all the little kids.”
Who helped on her way to the crown? “My parents, my mom and my dad, they do everything for me, but also my best friend Paloma (Chevere). She did the pageants with me and today I couldn’t have gotten through without her support and her texts and her calls.”
“I was literally crying. I am so proud of her right now,” Paloma said. “I’m just so excited for this year. It is going to be the best experience for her and she really, really, really, really, really deserves it.”
The competition ended a busy pageant week. On Friday, Taegen Vivarelli was crowned Little Miss Ocean City 2025 and the Saturday before, Taylor Mulford was crowned Miss Ocean City 2025.
Aggie Becker is the director of the Junior Miss Ocean City pageant. Miss New Jersey 2021 Alyssa (Sullivan) Costello was the emcee. Judges were Mark Nicolle, Alyssa Bainbridge, Hillary Zepp, Michelle Bainbridge and Matthew Guenther. Judges chair was Angela Biamonte-Kosar and the auditors were Jeff and Nicole Kutner.
Audio, lights and stage crew courtesy of the Ocean City Music Pier staff. Choreographing the show were Alex Poergiovanni, Jasmin Halim and Bella DeCosta. Hostesses were Joyce Trofa and Jordan Fritsch; Mimi Cottrell designed the program. Sally Onesty of A Bella Salon and Spa provided hair styling, Just Right TV was the videographer and David Nahan of the Ocean City Sentinel was the photographer.
Awards
Program Award: Madison Keenan
Hostess Award: Gisele Ardelean
Spirit Award: Madison Keenan
Miss Congeniality: Frankie Schaffer
Service to Community: Gia Ermilio
Academic Achievement: Gia Ermilio
Poise and Composure: Lyla Clark
On-stage Question: Sarah Smith
Interview: Sarah Smith
Talent: Arianna DiAntonio
Second runner-up: Lyla Clark
First runner-up: Arianna DiAntonio
Winner Junior Miss Ocean City 2025: Sarah Smith
– STORY and PHOTOS by DAVID NAHAN/Sentinel staff
