Miss Illinois Visits East Aurora

Miss Illinois 2008 was a guest of Triple Threat Mentoring Feb. 14^th at the East Aurora 5^th Grade Girls Basketball Tournament held at East Aurora High School. Having adopted Triple Threat Mentoring as her platform for charitable work and volunteerism, Miss Illinois arrived on Valentine’s Day to join us in serving young East Aurora athletes.

Her day began with students from Krug Elementary School helping her pin on her crown, a moment the team will not soon forget. With crown and Miss Illinois sash donned, she played with kids in the Triple Threat Kids’ Games & Activities area, fielded volunteer and youth questions, cheered with cheerleaders and posed for pictures. Wide eyed youngsters followed her around referring to her as “the princess.”

Triple Threat corporate sponsors Nike and PowerBar® generously donated Nike basketballs for every team player, Nike shoes for All Stars winning teams and PowerBar® energy bars for Semi-final and Championship teams. And to student and family delight, Miss Illinois was in the center of it all, even enjoying a tasty PowerBar with East Aurora athletes.

Miss Illinois, a.k.a. Katie Lorenz, is 24 years old and lives in Lincoln Park. She’s currently pursuing her MBA at Loyola University in marketing and international business. She loves gnocchi, dancing and is “working on her Spanish.” Her favorite music is Top 40 tunes and she loves to hang out at the beach in summer or on her couch in winter. And as was obvious Feb. 14, she also loves kids.

Motivated by scholarship funding, Katie began competing in beauty pageants while a senior in high school and was crowned Miss Illinois in 2008. While competing in the 2008 Miss America Pageant, her best friends were Miss Michigan, Miss Arizona, and Miss Virginia. “We always called each other by our state name, never personal names. It’s kind of funny, but that’s how it is,” she shared. A humorous Miss America reflection revealed Katie’s endearing quality of not taking herself too seriously, “I met Mario Lopez and he smells really good.”

Thanks Miss Illinois and Triple Threat volunteers for making the tournament an extra special day for 5^th grade East Aurora female athletes!