To celebrate scholarship, leadership, and talent while giving young women a chance to earn various locally sponsored scholarships and awards, Portage High School’s East Auditorium hosted the Distinguished Young Women competition on Saturday, May 10, at 7 p.m. The event showcased participants’ talent, fitness, and self-expression, which accounted for 50% of the standards of excellence that determined the winner of the competition. The other 50%, the judge’s interview and scholastic achievement, were completed prior to the event.
Portage’s 2025 Distinguished Young Women was open to the junior class with 15 students taking on the challenge: Maliyah Alexander, Laiza Anaya, Hailey Freeman, Zoey Garner, Ashlyn Gentry, Makenna Gue, Willow Hill, Addison Kozlowski, Paris Moore, Olivia Nemecek, Hannah Niebel, Gracie Stover, Alyssa Tang, Angelique Vega, and Gianna Verta.
At the conclusion of the night, Gentry was declared the Distinguished Young Woman of 2025, meaning she will proceed to the State level in Kokomo, Indiana, where she will compete to reach the National level.
“To me, winning is so much more than the title. I have watched the Distinguished Young Women program for the past few years and have formed connections with each of the winners and participants from years past,” Gentry said. “Having the title of Distinguished Young Woman is important to me because it gives me the opportunity to form relationships with those younger than me. I am extremely excited to watch Portage’s program grow and share my love for Distinguished Young Women with the incoming participants!”
Lighting up the stage with her brilliant smile and poise, Gentry dazzled the audience with her energetic fitness routine, intelligent self-expression speech, and beautiful piano performance. While the performance was a joy in itself, Gentry’s favorite part of the show was performing alongside new and old friends.
“I would say that the main reason for my smiles during the performance was my family and friends around me. I have been on stage performing my entire life, but I still find myself overwhelmed with love by those in my life. Performing with 14 of my now closest friends was an amazing experience. The amount of respect and admiration I have for them is unimaginable,” Gentry said. “Of course, my family’s presence also makes me incredibly happy. Not only did I have the opportunity to perform on stage with my cousin, but we were supported by 20 of our closest family members and friends.”
Participants poured hours of training, rehearsal, and passion into preparing for the competition. The night featured choreographed fitness routines, impromptu self-expression speeches based on five possible prompts, and 90-second talent presentations ranging from musical performance to origami creation.
Portage High School English Teacher Anna Dimov and Substitute Teacher Claire Hagan, who will soon take on the role of English teacher, enthusiastically helped participants prepare for Saturday’s competition all year long. Having won Portage’s Distinguished Young Women competition in 2015, Hagan knows firsthand the challenges these students have faced along the way and is proud to see their efforts come to fruition.
“Being their mentor has been inspiring. We’re both teachers, so it’s great to see our kids come to life on the stage. They blossom into amazing young women, and we’re just so grateful to be able to see that live. That’s my favorite part about it,” Hagan said.
Dimov appreciates that the students have not only grown in confidence thanks to the Distinguished Young Women program, but they have also made new friends through the bonds of preparation and competition.
“It’s really emotional because we’ve been with them since January, spending time practicing and getting to know them. We did team bonding where we painted canvases all together, and it was so fun. Getting to know them and what they do and supporting them in their extracurricular activities has been great,” Dimov said.
Aside from recognizing the 2025 Distinguished Young Woman, the event celebrated the second, third, and fourth finalists, who won various scholarships and gifts. Divisional awards included the Hanley Award, Stevens Award, Clyde & Geraldine Hardin Family Scholarship Award, Spirit of Distinguished Woman Award, Talent Award, Scholastic Award, Fitness Award, Self-Expression Award, and Interview Award.
Learn more about the Distinguished Young Women program here.
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