Two young women hailing from Battle Ground now carry a briefcase everywhere they go. In that briefcase are a crown, a sash and other essentials that all speak to the achievement of a big title for the two.
The Miss Clark County/Greater Vancouver competition crowned four young women on Sunday, Nov. 2, at Fort Vancouver High School. For 2026, Miss Greater Vancouver is Natalie Worthy, 22, of Battle Ground, and current Battle Ground High School senior Adrionna McClellan now wears the sash for Miss Clark County Teen.
And this isn’t their first rodeo, either. Worthy packs a few “Miss” titles with Miss Greater Vancouver in 2022 and even Miss Pierce County 2024 while she attended the University of Puget Sound. McClellan first held the title of Princess of La Center before also winning Miss Greater Vancouver Teen in 2024.
Both are incredibly thankful for the support provided by the Battle Ground Community. Worthy and McClellan aspire to represent and give back to the community.
“To be able to represent something that is more than just one individual, it is everyone combined, I think is so, so special right now,” Worthy said. “And I would just like to say to all of Battle Ground, thank you for supporting young women who want to follow these dreams, who want to keep pursuing their passions, who are achieving higher education, you know.”
Worthy said the Miss Clark County/Greater Vancouver program is always looking for more young women to compete. To learn more, visit missclarkcountywa.org/become-a-contestant.
Worthy and McClellan were both grateful for program director Sheri Backous. They said she has put her heart and soul into the program as Backous celebrated her 10th year working with the program as director, photographer, coach, a best friend and even a carpool.
Worthy of Miss Greater Vancouver 2026
Worthy first started competing in the Miss Clark County scholarship organization when she was 16 years old. Now, at age 22, she has seen the importance of life experience and self confidence gained through the program.
“The skills that we’ve gained specifically in interview and just self presentation, I think, is so huge for young women,” she said. “It’s so important that young girls get an opportunity to speak about something they’re passionate about and also to demonstrate why they are important just as human beings.”
During a pageantry competition, the competitors are asked an onstage question, wear an evening gown, fitness and perform a 90-second talent. Behind the scenes, an interview full of major questions ensues. Worthy said she has been thrown some “insane political questions.”
“We’re not getting asked what’s your favorite type of lipstick, you know,” she said. “It’s definitely a lot more well rounded than that. I think Teen and Miss contestants are really expected to know what’s going on in the world. Miss America is over 100 years old, and we’ve changed so much within that time. Back in the 1920s, it was a beauty pageant. The judging criteria was how your hips looked, your shoulders, your eyes, you know, that criteria. And to have over a century years-old legacy and still be relevant in the times is so important. So we are all expected to be aware of what’s happening, be a spokesperson for our community, for the organization and to represent it on so many different levels than just the looks part of it.”
For Worthy, she said she hit a lot of personal goals at the Miss Clark County/Greater Vancouver pageant that will be a catalyst going into the year ahead, which includes competing for Miss Washington.
Worthy graduated this past spring with her bachelor’s of music with a major of vocal performance from the University of Puget Sound. Her platform as Miss Greater Vancouver is “amplify the arts, every student, every stage.”
“It’s about the importance of arts education and advocacy work around that,” Worthy said. “I’ve grown up doing music since I was little. I did piano, violin, and eventually my voice and I majored in that, and now I’m actually a private music teacher at the Vancouver Music Academy. So I’ve really seen firsthand how arts programs can just change people’s lives in so many different ways, and a lot of times arts programs in public schools are at risk when there’s budget cuts and failures within school districts.”
Worthy said she plans to promote the arts and her platform while visiting schools throughout the county.
“Young people are only 20 percent of our population, but they’re 100 percent of our future,” Worthy said. “So, if we don’t invest in them now and have a well-rounded education for them, including those in art spaces, then we’re setting them up for an ill-prepared future, is my thought.”
Worthy added that she works with the Inspire Washington organization that serves in legislative districts of the state. In February, she will take part in an advocacy week in Olympia to speak with representatives and policymakers about actions that can be done for cultural sectors like arts, heritage and sciences. Worthy hopes to bring awareness toward the successes with arts in Clark County, she added.
When it comes to the competition aspect of being Miss Greater Vancouver, Worthy also spoke for McClellan as Miss Clark County Teen. With their prior experience, they are aiming high.
“We’re ready to represent our communities at a state level and hopefully a national level,” Worthy said.
Worthy also added that the four crownholders for the county are always excited to speak at an event, talk about their platforms, be of service for the community and more. For Worthy herself, she highlighted her desire to sing the national anthem.
From leader in high school, to leader countywide and beyond
McClellan is an 18-year-old senior at Battle Ground High School who has never backed down from leadership or the spotlight.
She’s a competition dancer, high school cheerleader, an ASB sergeant of arms, and, for this year, Miss Clark County Teen. For her, the title of Miss Clark County Teen 2026 highlights being authentic to herself. While being authentically herself in the pageant, McClellan was crowned Miss Congeniality by her peers for being the most friendly, helpful and pleasant.
“I found myself in a different light,” McClellan said of being a part of Miss Clark County/Greater Vancouver pageant. “I have put myself in shoes that I’ve been uncomfortable in, but I have thrived in them because I’ve been able to push myself to be a better person.”
As Worthy is a vocal performer, McClellan relates closely with an arts platform as a dancer. Her platform: Step forward, healing through dance and self-expression.
“When I went into picking a platform for myself, I just thought about, what is something that I feel personal about that I feel like I can make an impact?” McClellan said, adding that she wanted a platform that is personal to her compared to ones she has had in the past. “I wanted something that I feel more personal to. … Within that, I have totally changed myself through dance. It has made me a different person. It’s been able to help me express my feelings through sadness, anger and even happiness and also create that sisterhood within the dance studio.”
Juggling dance, cheer, high school and everything that comes with the crown and sash actually comes easy for McClellan.
“I’m extremely good at time management and I’m very good at working with these things,” she said. “So even though it’s so much, truly it’s what I’ve been doing for so long. … I got magic in my pockets, and it honestly kind of just comes natural.”
With an organized mind and schedule for life, McClellan is also living in the moment and taking this entire year in, as being a senior in high school already packs major life memories.
“This is also an experience that I will never get back in my life,” she said. “I will never be 18 years old and be Miss Clark County Teen like that. I’ll never get that back, and I’m going to live it with every single piece that I possibly can.”
With her platform, she hopes to bring in a younger audience. McClellan said she hopes to teach young audiences the power of using dance as expression as she said it will build onto them growing up as another tool other than words for expressing themselves. She hopes to teach this throughout the county, especially in her home school district of Battle Ground.
“Especially River HomeLink,” she added. “I went there for middle school when I was a homeschool kid. It has a special place in my heart.”
When thinking about what she would say to her younger self and as inspiration for other kids growing up in the Battle Ground community, McClellan referred to her senior spotlight.
“Just take advantage of every single little opportunity you get,” she said. “Don’t just do it because it’s not realistic. Like, go for dreams that just seem absolutely impossible. Throughout my life, I’ve done things that are out of this world.”
McClellan added that she never would have thought that she would have the title that is on her sash.
This is an absolute dream,” she said. “But I’ve pushed myself beyond those limits that I never thought I was even capable of doing.”
McClellan plans on attending the Washington State University in Pullman after graduating from Battle Ground High School. She will be going for a degree in hospitality management. She has a vision for a career in wedding planning.
“I’m going to become a wedding planner and become a part of such a special day in people’s lives,” McClellan said. “It just makes me so giddy thinking about it. And that’s just how I know that this is what I want to do.”
