20-year-old Auburn student wins Miss Hoover 2022 crown

A 20-year-old Auburn University student from Daphne on Sunday night was recently crowned Miss Hoover 2022 at the Hoover Library Theatre.

Jordan Carraway, who is studying industrial and systems engineering as a junior at Auburn, was chosen from among five contestants in this year’s competition and won a $5,000 scholarship.

Also, Jayla Duncan, a 17-year-old senior at Childersburg High School, was named Miss Hoover's Outstanding Teen 2022 from among 14 contestants in the teen competition and won a $1,000 scholarship.

Both of the contests were “open” competitions, meaning the contestants did not have to live in Hoover.

The five Miss Hoover contestants were judged on a 10-minute interview with a panel of judges that took place earlier Sunday, an on-stage social impact initiative pitch, talent, red carpet (evening gown) presentation and how they answered a question on stage.

Carraway, who is soon to be a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force as a result of her participation in the Air Force ROTC program, spoke about a Girls Can program she put together to empower and inspire young women to enter male-dominated career fields.

“Space psychology has proven that multi-gender crews on board the international space station have time and time again outperformed single-gender crews, so why is it now that only 11.2% of the astronaut corps, 14.4% of our active-duty military and 28.1% of the engineering workforce are female?” Carraway asked. “Not only are they capable, but they are integral parts of those workforces.”

Carraway, who has twirled batons for more than 13 years, won the talent competition and an additional $200 scholarship with a twirling performance to “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend”.

After her name was called as the new Miss Hoover, she held her hand over her mouth for an extended period of time as Caitlyn McTier, Miss Hoover 2020 and 2021, pinned her crown on her head.

“I’m so excited,” Carraway said after the competition. “It’s very bittersweet. My baton coach passed away this past Thursday, so I almost didn’t show up today, so being here and winning is just incredible. It’s such an honor.”

The first runner-up for Miss Hoover this year was Ashley Taylor, a sophomore from Samford University, and the second runner-up was Sophia Porrill, a freshman at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Each of them won a $200 scholarship.

This is the first time the Miss Hoover Foundation has had a Miss Hoover's Outstanding Teen competition. Each of the 14 contestants was judged on a 10-minute interview with judges, a fitness demonstration, evening gown presentation, on-stage question and talent.

Duncan said she was excited and grateful for the opportunity to be Hoover’s Outstanding Teen. “Hoover is a great city,” she said. “They’ve already done so much for me already as a contestant.”

Duncan said she wants to advocate for people who are bullied because she was bullied once at summer camp.

“It was something I was very embarrassed about, and I didn’t want to talk about it. The only thing my mom knew is that I came home and I was very unhappy, and I didn’t want to go to camp,” she said. “ I choose to advocate for bullying and advocate for those who don’t think they’re powerful enough to speak up or who are ashamed of it because bullying is not something you should be ashamed about. It’s something we need to understand is a serious issue and has a huge effect on victims as well as for strangers.”

For her talent, Duncan performed a tap routine to Earth, Wind & Fire’s 1979 hit “Boogie Wonderland.”

The rest of the finalists in the teen competition were: first runner-up Hailey Adams, a junior at Evangel Christian School: second runner-up Emma Walters, a junior from Briarwood Christian School; third runner-up Lona Jo Henderson, a sophomore from Oneonta High School; and fourth runner-up Abby Daniels, a junior from Springville High School.

Walters also won the teen talent competition with a ballet en pointe performance to “Man of La Mancha.”

Carraway now will represent Hoover over the next year and in the Miss Alabama 2022 competition, and Duncan will represent Hoover in the Miss Alabama's Outstanding Teen 2022 competition.