Larsen claims Colfax DYW title

Distinguished Young Woman entrants line up at the end of Saturday's program to await the judges' decision. From the left are Emma Neu, Jantzen Larsen, Zoe Burt, Hailey Aase, Katerina Wiley, Sara Whelchel, Alicia Knee, Josie Riebold, Kiah Miller and Abbie Miller. For more pictures, see Weekly Pages: March 23.

Jantzen Larsen was named Colfax Distinguished Young Woman Saturday night at the conclusion of the "Wild West Program" in the Colfax High School auditorium. The daughter of Rance and Denise Larsen, she topped nine other contestants in the competition and received a $1,000 scholarship.

Larsen will compete at the state competition in August, and a win there would advance her to the 2018 national event.

Abbie Miller, daughter of Brad and Michelle Miller, was named first alternate, and Sara Whelchel, daughter of Randy and Jill Whelchel, was named second alternate. Scholarship prizes for the alternates were $600 and $400.

Larsen also placed second in the scholarship and talent segments of the program.

Whelchel placed second in interview and fitness and won the talent segment by performing "Maple Leaf Rag" on the clarinet.

Miller won the interview and self expression parts of the program and the prize for selling the most tickets.

Other program segment winners were Alicia Knee for fitness and Kiah Miller for scholarship. Miller also placed second in self expression.

Ticket sales and donations this year again produced enough revenue to provide $100 awards to the number-two competitors in each of the competition segments. Prizes for the event winners varied from $150 to $250 depending on how much the event was weighted in the overall judging.

Senior girls completing their DYW year Saturday were Taylor Garcia of Colfax with alternates Sarah Kraut and Madelyne Aliva, and Lauren Claassen, Colfax senior who qualified here to represent LaCrosse in the state competition last year.

Other contestants were Zoe Burt, Hailey Aase, Katerina Wiley and Josie Riebold.

Also part of the program were Dylan Nails, Riley Wuesteney and Dane Hall, as the trio of bad guys. Dean Ellis, who portrayed the role as sheriff, was moderator.

The script for "Wild, Wild, West" was written by Connie Ellis.