Stafford girl to represent New Jersey in national pageant

Manahawkin’s very own Laney Torchia, 8, was recently crowned “Top Model” in the Miss New Jersey Junior Pre-Teen category of the National American Miss Pageant. She will go on to represent the state of New Jersey at the NAM

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Laney Torchia shows off
her "Top Model" awards.

National Pageant at Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., this October.

Torchia received an invitation to NAM in the springtime, and although her parents Greg and Roxanne did not know exactly what to expect of the beauty pageant, they allowed her to attend the open casting call. She was chosen as a top 25 state finalist out of more than 300 young girls.

NAM’s “main goal is to promote inner beauty. They’re not about the whole glamorous thing,” said Roxanne. “They praise the kids on volunteer work, and anyone who sponsors the girls gets a written thank-you note. They donate reading or school supplies. They do a lot of positive things, and every kid is a winner. They don’t want any of the girls wearing any makeup or anything. It’s not a ‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ kind of thing; it’s totally natural,” she explained.

“‘Toddlers and Tiaras’ is demeaning, I think,” added Laney. “I like doing this because it’s fun and it was a chance for me to do a pageant. I was actually expecting ‘Toddlers and Tiaras,’ but I was glad it wasn’t.”

Besides posing for pictures, Torchia was required to memorize and convey a 30-second commercial and a quick introduction in front of a panel of pageant judges. She also showed off her best nautical-looking dress, representative of her life at the Jersey Shore, during the formal wear category. Her community involvement participation of course included cleaning up the beaches on Long Beach Island.

Photo by Jack Reynolds
Torchia's parents support
her many ambitions.

“When I was up there, I almost started to cry because I didn’t think I was going to win anything,” she said, pointing to a video of the awards ceremony her father had filmed. “I guess they were saving the best for last, right?” she added with a smile.

Although NAM is Torchia’s first official pageant, she said she has been modeling and acting since she was 5 years old and hopes to become a professional actor in “big-time movies.” Her favorite actors include Reese Witherspoon, best known for her role in “Legally Blonde,” as well as Bridget Mendler, who plays Teddy Duncan in the Disney Channel original series “Good Luck Charlie.”

Torchia currently takes acting classes at A Class Act NY acting studio and singing lessons with Christina Skleros at Musicology Studios in Barnegat. The John Robert Powers Modeling scholarship she was awarded from NAM will also help her pursue her modeling dream. The $1,000 cash prize she received will most likely go toward her college fund, her parents said. Torchia hopes to attend the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York, as well as Yale University in Connecticut.

“She’s a hambone,” Roxanne said with a laugh. “She’s funny and she’s outgoing and she loves getting her picture taken and performing, basically. Some people do baseball and some people do soccer. This is her sport; this is what she does.”

Torchia said she also likes doing hair and ice skating and wants to try standup paddle boarding next summer.

To help Torchia raise money for her trip to California, donate to http://www.gofundme.com/laneytorchia.

— Kelley Anne Essinger


This article was published in The SandPaper.