Kelly took the crown Saturday after a 3-day competition in Davenport, Iowa. She will go on to compete for the Miss America crown in September.
Kelly, 23, hails from the Hawkeye State town of Keokuk. She intends to use the coveted platform of the Miss America competition to discuss overcoming disabilities.
The shocked beauty queen said she never expected to become a ‘pageant girl’.
‘As I grew up I learned to counterbalance the initial stares I received from people with an outgoing personality that would not give into “no,”’ writes Kelly in her official Miss Iowa biography. ‘This means that I tried everything.
‘From baseball, to dance, to diving – there is nothing I would not try. I found my passion within a world where I was giving people permission to stare: the stage.’
Kelly will get her shot at the crown September 15, 2013 at the Miss America 2014 pageant in Atlantic City, New Jersey.
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