Raquel Wellentin has been crowned as Miss North Dakota USA 2017 on November 19, 2016 at Reineke Fine Arts Center at NDSU. She succeeds Halley Maas, and will now represent North Dakota in the 66th edition of Miss USA, wherein Deshauna Barber of District of Columbia will pass on her crown to her successor.
Ecstatic about the win, Raquel said, “I am grateful for this opportunity because I am able to promote the values I am passionate about, while empowering every woman in the great state of North Dakota. I would encourage every woman to try to do something new each day to recognize the confidence, beauty and perseverance that they have within themselves.”
Wellentin was born in 1992 in the Philippines, and is the daughter of an Army Officer, Donald Wellentin. Raquel dreamt of becoming Miss North Dakota USA while living in Enderlin, when the reigning titleholder visited her school in the 5th grade and impacted her life. But, when she turned 11, her family moved from Enderlin to Fargo.
Volley ball was Wellentin’s favourite sport and she played volleyball and basketball while she attended Fargo South High School. While in volleyball, she was nominated Class-A All-Conference, Class-A All-State, and a candidate for Senior Athlete of the year. Following her success on the volleyball court, she was injured during her basketball season with a torn ACL and meniscus, and it was very devastating for her, her family, and her teammates.
The delegate is currently attending North Dakota State University and wants to achieve a bachelor’s degree in Health and Physical Education in the spring of 2017. Wellentin likes to remain active with club volleyball while pursuing her higher studies, and has been the President for the Women’s Club Volleyball team for the past three years. She was basically studying Health and Physical Education with a minor of Psychology, but decided to stick to University Studies, so that she can continue to be active as Miss North Dakota USA 2017 during her year of reign. Raquel loves teaching and impacting children’s lives and plans on getting her teaching degree following her reign.
Raquel works as a volleyball coach and she has been coaching at Fargo Davies High School for the past five years. During her years as the sophomore coach, the team won two EDC championship titles and one runner-up championship title. Raquel also serves as an assistant coach for the varsity team.
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Now Raquel will represent North Dakota at Miss USA 2017. North Dakota has never won the Miss USA title and the highest placements from the state came in 2014, when Audra Mari managed to bag the first runner-up crown. Judy Ann Slayton in 1966 managed to bag the third runner-up crown, Elizabeth Jaeger was fourth runner-up at 1983 edition whereas in 1996 Juliette Spier managed to land into the top 6.
The national pageant contest of Miss USA 2017 will be held in the month of June, and Raquel Wellentin is all prepped up for her major win. Who will be the winner? Tell us your opinion in the comment section below, and let us know what you think are the chances of this beautiful ambassador of North Dakota!