ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Miss Washington Danamarie McNicholl made it all the way to the Top 15 at the Miss America competition Sunday night before being eliminated from the Top 10.
Miss New York Nia Franklin took the title of Miss America. Miss Idaho Nina Forest got through to the Top 10, but was eliminated from the Top 5.
McNicholl, a former KREM 2 reporter and Gonzaga alumna, said although she did not get the title, she was still happy about going so far in the competition.
"I said what I needed to say. I performed on the Miss America stage. And being called Top 15 was the most incredible moment of my entire life," she said.
McNicholl said she was nervous ahead of Sunday's showing at Atlantic City. Her nerves surprised a few of the other contestants, considering McNicholl had experience reporting on television.
"It was so funny, because I was freaking out backstage, and some of the girls were saying 'You go on TV every day!' And I said 'Not national television!' " she said. "There's just a rush of excitement thinking that seven to ten million people tune in to Miss America. It was so incredible to be on that stage."
McNicholl has been competing on stage since she was a teenager. She was crowned Miss Washington earlier this summer, an accomplishment she attributed to her mother and all the support she received from home throughout the years.
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