The spotlights are on and the line of boys spans the cafeteria stage, anxiously awaiting the pageant results. “And the 2017 Mr. Maverick is…”

Student Council hosted its annual Mr. Mav pageant March 2 in the cafeteria. The boys represented their various clubs, vying for tickets to prom. Mr. Maverick was awarded to Nathan Nguyen, and Jason Chu won Mr. Congeniality, an honor voted on by the competitors.

“I felt very honored to be chosen for Mr. Congeniality,” Chu said. “It felt good knowing that my friends and fellow contestants think I am very nice. It was a pleasure.”

The competitors were seniors Spence Blood for HOSA, Isaac Sorensen for Engineering Club, Chu for National Honor Society, Nguyen for DECA, Thane Flores for French National Honor Society, Matt Golla for Mu Alpha Theta, Jungwoo Joo for Orchestra, Kasi Balijepaly for Choir, and junior Eduardo Levi for League of United Latin American Citizens. The emcees were senior Abby Mathew and junior Brooke Wedig, and a panel of teachers served as judges.

There were three sections before intermission. The first was casual wear, with the boys running across the stage in their everyday attire as the emcees introduced each. Then, there was the talent section.

“This year it was hard because everyone was doing different things,” Student Council president Laura Wimmer said. “We needed a piano, wrestling mats for Jason, and tables.”

For his talent, Flores did a dramatic reading of the Dr. Seuss short story “The Sneetches” after his original plan, lip-syncing, was derailed by his backup dancers who quit a few days before. His family was in attendance, and his brother, senior Tanner Flores, said the performance was his favorite part of Mr. Mav.

“I thought it was funny and unique,” Flores said. “They made him change his talent, so I thought he was just really creative.”

The last section in which all the boys competed was formal wear. They wore tuxedos sponsored by Men’s Warehouse and were escorted by a teacher, who received a rose.

“It was fun being chosen by the student, and hearing all the nice things they said about it,” Erin Calvin, statistics teacher and Joo’s escort, said. “It was also really fun to see all their talents. They all are very talented.”

After the formal wear section there was an intermission, which the judges used to decide on the finalists: Nguyen, Blood, Sorensen, and Golla. This group then had to answer questions which they drew out of a cup. While Nguyen clearly won the judges over with his answer to the question of fame or fortune when he said he would fix MoPac, Blood got a collective “aw” from the audience when he said if he could switch places with anyone for a day it would be fellow competitor Chu.

“He’s just the nicest guy,” Blood said. “I was at an officer meeting for a club, and this kid washed the dishes for all of us. I would love to just attempt to be Jason for a day.”

With the conclusion of the pageant, Nguyen and Chu proudly wore their sashes for a round of group pictures. The excitement wasn’t over: Chu grabbed the microphone and promposed to senior Kathy Nguyen. While the boys got the attention, a lot of work went on behind the scenes to make the night a success.

“We have to schedule the day a year in advance, because there are always conflicts,” Wimmer said. “And we all stay after school and set up for three hours.”