“Pageantry turned into my sport:” Carlisle basketball legend’s daughter Billie Owens claims Miss Pennsylvania crown | Carlisle

In recent news, however, the name isn’t referring to the Carlisle High School basketball legend (he of the four straight state titles) and Syracuse University star (he scored 1,840 points in three college seasons) who played 14 years in the NBA.

Instead, it refers to his daughter, Billie LaRaé Owens, who recently earned her own crown as Miss Pennsylvania USA.

Relief and excitement were two of the many emotions that swooped through Billie’s mind as her name echoed from the speaker system at Johnstown’s Richland Performing Arts Center during the 2022 Miss Pennsylvania USA pageant April 24.

“Right before they called my name, I started tearing up,” she said. “I just don’t know if I had that feeling that all of [my] hard work was about to pay off … like, OK this is it, this is about to happen.”

The hard work Billie, 25, spoke of was not only through her preparation for this year’s competition, but also for the past four Miss Pennsylvania USA pageants.

She placed as the first runner-up in both the 2019 and 2020 pageants, and then took fourth runner-up last year.

“I came super close each time and a lot of people were in my ear telling me to give up and move on, there’s bigger and better things out there. But pageantry turned into my sport, essentially, so I wanted to keep going after it,” Billie said. “I’m happy I did, because if I didn’t I wouldn’t be competing in Miss USA which is a dream of mine.”

To her, the title serves as a symbol of hard work and resiliency. A spirit of competition runs in the Owens family and that’s what kept her going year after year. Her mom, Nicole, graduated from Syracuse in 1994.

“We work toward things that we want, we try not to give up, so just having that mentality and that drive to accomplish a goal kept me going,” Billie said. “And being so close, it’s like how am I going to quit when I can taste it?”

She said she’s extremely close with her father and claimed that being named after him set her up for a good relationship from a young age. Hard work is the most important quality her father instilled in her through his basketball career, which included his role in Carlisle Area High School’s unprecedented four consecutive state championships in the ‘80s.

“He has shown me the importance of hard work and if you have a talent at something you work toward it and try to use that to the best of your ability,” she said.

Billy said he experienced similar emotions as his daughter from his seat as he watched Billie receive her crown.

“It was exciting, actually it was almost like I was playing in a basketball game,” he said. “My hands were sweating and my forehead was sweating, it was just nerve-wracking to see her accomplish a dream that she had four or five years ago.”

Billy’s voice had been one of the ones encouraging his daughter to quit after last year’s competition. He said he felt the competition was unfair and expressed his awareness of mental health concerns related to pageantry.

“I told her she should just put it to bed and move on,” he said. “She said no, this was something she wants to win, so she ended up winning and I was happy for her.”

Hard work and a competitive nature aren’t the only qualities that run in the Owens family. At 5 feet, 10 inches tall, Billie said she figured she had to do something with her height.

“I wasn’t following in my dad’s footsteps or in my brother’s footsteps and playing basketball,” she said. “So you know, I always had this passion for fashion and all of that, so I thought modeling would be my best bet in doing that.”

Her younger brother Chaz, a 6-foot, 5-inch sophomore, played forward on the Syracuse men’s basketball team the past two seasons. He entered the transfer portal in April, according to syracuse.com, after appearing in just six games this year.

Billie also has older siblings, LaVail and Lonaa, along with younger sibling, Skyla — a twin with Chaz.

Billie started modeling when she was 16, however, she didn’t begin in pageantry until later. She said did runway and fit modeling jobs here and there with brands like Urban Outfitters, Anthropology and QVC. After she finished college in 2018, Billie said she did a prom gown expo in Atlanta. When that wrapped up, Billie said she was in the airport on her way back to her home in Phoenixville, near Philadelphia, when a friend told her she should go into pageantry.

“I was like absolutely not, it was just something I’d never thought of,” Billie said.

She said her friend told her she had the modeling experience as well as the “speaking part” down because Billie majored in broadcast and digital journalism during her time at Syracuse University.

She said modeling doesn’t really require much speaking, however pageantry does. In fact, Billie said it makes up a third of the competition. Pageant contestants include personal interviews before judges who can ask any variety of questions, meaning they have to be quick on their feet, she said.

“I feel like it’s not necessarily what you’re saying but how you answer a question, how you carry yourself while you’re answering it, and your delivery, so that’s a huge part when it comes to pageants,” Billie said.

She said her time earning a degree in broadcast and digital journalism at Syracuse gave her the “tools of speaking” she needed and her participation in the previous three pageants helped her to develop the content of what she said.

The other two thirds of the competition involve on-stage performances in swimwear and evening gowns.

She said that on the first day of the competition, all contestants participate in the personal interviews as well as the swimwear and evening gown performances. The second day, the top 16 girls advanced and did evening gown and swimwear again. From there, the judges cut down to the top six girls who were each asked an on-stage question before placements were announced.

Billie said pageantry taught her that she can accomplish anything.

“A lot of these girls start competing at a young age and I didn’t,” she said. “I started competing, I think I was 21 or 22, so I was a little late to the game and it just taught me that once I put my mind [to something] I will make it happen and that I am dedicated and motivated, and I won’t let anything stand in my way of accomplishing my goal and pursuing the dream.”

Meeting this goal involved a slew of training.

“Each year, I think my preparation was a little different than the year before,” Billie said.

In 2019, she said she went into it with a mindset of understanding that pageantry was new to her, so she worked with people in the industry to set herself up for success and did well in the competition. The following year, she figured that since she’d done so well the year before, she’d keep doing what she was doing and it would happen for her.

When it didn’t, Billie said she went into “pageant drill sergeant mode” in 2021.

“I was practicing interview questions like with my sister every night, I was working out in the gym six times a week, I was practicing walking in the gym in my high heels,” she said. “While everyone is sweating lifting weights, I’m over here strutting in front of a mirror. I just took it like it was training for the Olympics, like I ate, slept, breathed pageantry.”

This year, Billie said she let go of pageant prep and just trusted herself.

“[I] focused on preparing my mind and being happy with who I was and who I’m becoming, so this time I focused mostly just on the mental aspect, being truly happy where I’m at and at the end of the day, that’s I believe what took me across the finish line,” she said.

It’s this final approach Billie said she wants to take with her as she prepares to compete for Miss USA, which will be held this fall, but a date and location have not been finalized.

Owens told syracuse.com she is running for Miss USA on a platform of female empowerment as an official ambassador for HoopHers, a girls empowerment program for Philadelphia Youth Basketball. The nonprofit group supports young people and provides a safe space for basketball and character development.

If she wins Miss USA, the next (and final stop) would be the Miss Universe pageant which will take place shortly after Miss USA, Billie said.

“I guess I’m just super excited for this chapter of my life,” she said. “I really want to do well at Miss USA and take home the crown, but if I can develop as a person and meet people throughout this reign and really develop good connections, I feel like I’m already a winner.”