Miss Texas runs in the family: Mother and daughter crowned 31 years apart
This summer, Sadie Schiermeyer went down in the Miss Texas history books as the first legacy winner of the Lone Star State’s pageant.
Frisco native Sadie Schiermeyer came close to winning this month’s Miss America beauty pageant, having made history with her victory in the Miss Texas contest over the summer.
Unprecedented family double
In June, Schiermeyer qualified for Miss America when she was named Miss Texas - three decades after her mother, Arian Orlando also won the Lone Star State’s beauty pageant.
Schiermeyer and Orlando are the first mother-daughter duo to have both held the Miss Texas crown.
Orlando triumphed at the Miss Texas pageant in 1994, before placing in the top 10 at Miss America the following year.
At Miss America 2026 on September 7, Schiermeyer finished as first runner-up at the gala in Florida, narrowly losing out on the crown to New York’s Cassie Donegan.
“I grew up backstage at Miss Texas”
“I’ve always grown up with the stories of what her [Orlando’s] year was like,” Schiermeyer told an interview with People magazine this week.
“I grew up getting to be backstage at Miss Texas and actually meeting the wonderful women that have held the role. They’ve been some of the biggest role models in my life.”
Speaking to the She Wins podcast last month, Schiermeyer said these role models “gave me an example of what it meant to be ambitious and driven in whatever field, not just pageantry”.
However, Schiermeyer says her childhood exposure to beauty pageantry wasn’t the chief influence behind her decision to pursue Miss Texas status for herself.
“That is what pushed me”
“I actually didn’t start competing until I was 16,” Schiermeyer, now 22, told People. “And a big part of that was because one of my high school friends, she was competing, and went on to win Miss America Teen.
“I got to see, through her, not just the glitz and the glam and all the behind-the-scenes, but I saw her actively serving her community. That is what pushed me to step from the observer lens to actually participating.”
A psychology graduate from Belmont University, Schiermeyer has now enrolled at Dallas Baptist University to study for a master’s in professional counseling.
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