Black equestrian with Olympic 2028 dreams captures Miss California title in Visalia
When Sabrina Lewis was crowned Miss California 2023 at the Visalia Convention Center on Saturday evening, the 25-year-old Los Ángeles resident became only the second Black candidate to capture the title.
Lewis, an equestrian competitor who is eying the 2028 Summer Olympics, will represent California at the Miss America 2024 pageant scheduled late this year or early next year in Connecticut.
The pageant life is no stranger to the 5-foot-9 Georgia native. She has competed in pageants since she was 8, and was Miss California USA 2021.
Despite that experience, Lewis said preparing for Miss California wasn’t easy while finishing up her master’s degree in public administration at UC Berkeley, modeling full-time, and practicing equestrian show jumping.
“It was a lot to balance, but I’m happy I made it through,” said Lewis shortly after being crowned by Miss California 2022 Catherine Liang in front of an estimated 900 spectators.
“The best advice I could give anyone to compete in pageants is take naps during every single break.”
Lewis was judged the best of 49 competitors during the 3-hour pageant, and claimed a $20,000 scholarship among other prizes.
First runner-up went to Miss Anaheim Hills Asha Bhattacharya ($7,000 scholarship). The remaining top five in order were Miss Riverside City Taylor Yamane ($5,000), Miss Northern California Mahika Valluri ($4,000), and Miss Los Ángeles County Katie Tessier ($2,500).
This was the first time in 26 years that the pageant has not been held in Fresno. Organizers left the state’s fifth-largest city for Visalia, California’s 40th most-populated city with about 26% of Fresno’s 545,000 residents.
Miss California will remain in Visalia for five years.
Lewis is the first Black to win the state title since Simone Marie Stephens of Los Ángeles in 1987.
A California representative has not won Miss America since Debra Sue Moffett did so in 1982.
Lewis – the only daughter of Richard and Sylvia Lewis (he recently retired from the Department of Veterans Affairs; she works for an agency within the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) – spoke about her equestrian journey as part of her talent presentation.
“There is no talent portion in the Miss USA system; and I felt like part of me was missing because a big part of my life is being an equestrian athlete, riding horses,” said Lewis. “I’ve been riding horses since I was like five years old.”
She would love to compete at the 2028 Summer Olympics, which are scheduled in Los Ángeles where she currently lives. To get there, she’ll need a horse.
“I have a saddle company, a glove company, a helmet company, but I need the main component, which is a horse, to get to the Olympics and compete at that high level,” she said. Winning the national title, she figures, will help.
“You know, I didn’t win at Miss USA, but I truly believe that I would make a wonderful national titleholder and would make a great Miss America,” said Lewis, who is fluent in Spanish.
Lewis, whose career goal is to be a professor of public policy and non-profit studies, earned her master’s of public administration this year from the University of Georgia.
She would like to see the pageant get more involved with veterans service organizations. Her father is an Army veteran.
Miss America implements changes
The Miss America Organization adjusted the competition this year to allow contestants to present HERstory, a slide show presentation about their lives.
Lewis and the other final 12 contestants participated in a health and fitness competition worth 20% of the point total, the first time competitors have been judged on fitness since the swimsuit category was eliminated in 2019.
A private interview conducted by the judges accounted for 30% of total. Talent (20%), evening gown (20%), and on-stage conversation (10%) also contributed to the total.
Other pageant notes
▪ Miss San Francisco Monroe Lace fell short of becoming the first transgender woman to win the California title. The UCLA graduate, however, did make it to the final 12 and won the People’s Choice Award.
▪ Miss Tulare County Elizabeth Sartuche, a Fresno State senior majoring in communications, was the only local contestant to make the final 12. She played the flute for her talent.
▪ Miss California CEO Russ Gladden, who called Visalia “the Crown Jewel of the San Joaquín Valley,” said donations by the pistachio association kept the organization from going bankrupt during the pandemic.
▪ Marlie Wright of San Diego won the Miss California’s Teen crown during the pageant held Saturday afternoon.
▪ Other local Miss California contestants included Pazao Lor (Central California), Bella Rodríguez (City of Fresno), Loie Madsen (Clovis), Laura Sparks (Kings County), Ananya Veerapaneni (Merced County), Chelsie Muro (Sanger/Sunnyside), Olivia Harden (Central Valley), and Angela Adade (San Joaquín).
▪ Visalia Mayor Brian Poochigian, during a 2-minute address, said he is looking forward to hosting the 100th pageant next year.
(This story was updated to add one more local contestant).
