Atwater teen to represent Merced County in Miss California pageant

As a longtime athlete, Mary Loera is familiar with competition. But as a first-time pageant contestant, the 17-year-old from Atwater says competing for the title of Miss Merced County was a whole new experience.

“Performing in sports, you have a whole team that can help you through it,” she said. “And in Miss Merced County, you have your friends who are supporting you, but they can’t do your talent for you, or physically help you through it.”

But even on her own, Loera delivered a winning performance on Saturday evening, receiving the Miss Merced County crown that she will carry with her as she prepares for the Miss California pageant this summer.

Loera, the youngest of Cecil and Glenda Loera’s eight children, said her family was surprised when she decided to enter the county competition.

“It’s not really something they thought I would be interested in,” she said. “Usually, I’m more of a sports person and I’ve never been into pageantry.”

Loera was born in Hawaii and lived there before starting high school in California. She has long has been active in sports such as soccer, softball and basketball. She hadn’t considered entering a pageant, she said, until representatives of the program visited Buhach Colony High School in the fall and her interest was piqued by the idea of winning money to help her pay for college. “They said, ‘If you have a talent, it’s a scholarship program,’ ” she recalled.

So, Loera brushed up on her piano skills to prepare to perform Beethoven’s “Fur Elise” for the competition. The teen also was judged on her performance in the pageant’s opening number, a swimsuit walk, an evening gown competition and an interview with the judges. She competed against four other young women from Merced County.

By winning the title, Loera will receive $1,000 in scholarship money. Her hope is to be accepted to UC Davis or one of the other UC campuses to which she applied. She’s still waiting to hear. “It’s nerve-wracking,” she said.

Loera plans to study kinesiology and to earn her master’s degree and become an occupational therapist. Her mother, she said, has been through physical therapy and with her own interest in science, the Buhach High senior believes such a career would help her fulfill her desire to help people.

The platform she has chosen to represent during her reign as Miss Merced County is helping students with mental disabilities. At Buhach High, Loera is part of a club that helps students work with mentally disabled students on such things as arts and crafts or cooking, she said. “Life skills that we may take for granted, for them are a really big deal,” she said.

Loera will compete in the Miss California pageant, which runs June 28 to July 2 in Fresno.

This story was originally published January 18, 2016 at 5:43 PM with the headline "Atwater teen to represent Merced County in Miss California pageant."