EASTHAMPTON — As Miss Pioneer Valley and Miss Baystate in 2016 and 2015, Anastasia Lusnia has been a familiar face, wearing her crown and sash at local events such as the Easthampton Memorial Day Parade.
This year Lusnia, of Easthampton, begins another reign, but this time from the Sunshine State, where the 20-year-old, a junior at the University of South Florida in Tampa, is pursuing a bachelor’s degree in nursing.
In March, she was crowned Miss Kissimmee in Orlando and went on to compete in the Miss Florida Scholarship Pageant, a preliminary to Miss America, which was held in June.
Although she didn’t place, she won the preliminary lifestyle and fitness in swimwear award. She also competed for Miss Tampa earlier this year and was second-runner-up.
“I worked really hard to be eating very clean and exercising daily,” she said when reached by phone at her home, where’s she’s spending the summer.
For the talent portion of the competition, Lusnia performed a ballet routine to the instrumental song “Torn” by Nathan Lanier. She wore a red tutu and said the dance had a Spanish flair.
Lusnia has been dancing for 17 years and has been training in ballet intensively for the last six years. When she’s dancing on stage, Lusnia said, she’s in her “happy place.”
“Ballet has always been my number one passion,” she said.
Her mother, Debora Lusnia, who is chairwoman of the Easthampton School Committee, placed both her daughters into dance lessons when they were young. Debora Lusnia said dance was something she always wanted to do when she was young and said it’s been fun to watch it become a passion for her daughters.
“It’s great to see her perform,” she said.
Along with talent, and lifestyle and fitness in swimwear, contestants are judged on evening gown, an onstage question-and-answer session, and a 10-minute private interview with a panel of judges.
To prepare for the private interview, Anastasia Lusnia said, she keeps up with current events and reads through emails from news outlets with the top headlines of the day.
She also takes time to practice her public speaking skills. On a typical day leading up to a competition, Lusnia spends from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. preparing.
“It truly is very intense,” she said.
Lusnia first started competing in 2015. Since then she has been promoting her personal platform (a requirement of every contestant) of eating disorder awareness.
“It’s nothing quite like I imagined it would be,” she said of her time competing in pagents. “The girls I’ve met and the people are truly amazing.”
Caitlin Ashworth can be reached at cashworth@gazettenet.com.