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Local women hope to be Ms. Mountaineer

OLD TRADITION  — Ms. Mountaineer candidates, from left, are Weirton’s Mia Antinone; Virginia Thrasher; Karen Laska, of Wheeling; Emma Harrison; and Weirton’s Morgan Goff. -- Contributed

MORGANTOWN — Three women from the Northern Panhandle are among 10 West Virginia University students vying for one of Mountaineer Week’s oldest traditions — the title of Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer.

The students, from West Virginia, New York and India, are all members or former members of the WVU Honors College.

“Since 1962, one high-achieving man and woman have won the title of Mr. and Ms. Mountaineer,” said Sonja Wilson, Mountaineer Week adviser. “This year’s winners will join a host of distinguished alumni who have earned the title over the past five decades.”

The three local students are Wheeling’s Karen Laska and Mia Antinone and Morgan Goff, both of Weirton.

This year’s winners will be selected by a review panel and announced Oct. 25 during halftime at the WVU football game against Baylor at Milan Puskar Stadium.

The Ms. Mountaineer finalists are:

• Antinone, a biochemistry major from Weirton, serves as a student tour leader for the WVU Visitors Center and vice president for Mountaineer Guides. She has been on the President’s List and serves as an annual volunteer for the West Virginia Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Conference. Antinone is sponsored by the WVU Visitors Center.

• Goff, a graduate student pursuing a master’s degree in business administration from Weirton, serves as a graduate assistant for WVU University Relations. She recently earned her bachelor’s degree in marketing from WVU and has been honored as a Foundation Outstanding Senior. She is a former vice president for the WVU Panhellenic Council of Recruitment and Philanthropy, senator for the Student Government Association and WVU Greek Woman of the Year. Goff is sponsored by the WVU MBA Program.

• Emma Harrison, a political science and multidisciplinary studies major from Morgantown, is a 2018 Truman Scholar and a 2018-19 Newman Fellow. She is sponsored by the WVU Honors College.

• Laska, an international studies, Slavic and Eastern European studies, and world languages French major, from Wheeling, serves as an ESL tutor with the Literacy Volunteers of Monongalia and Preston Counties and a volunteer with the WVU Intensive English Program Conversation Partners. Laska is a recipient of the Boren Scholarship, has been endorsed by WVU for the Mitchell Scholarship and a three-time recipient of the Eberly Scholarship. She is also a member of WVU Mortar Board. She is sponsored by the ASPIRE Office.

• Virginia Thrasher, a member of the WVU Rifle Team, is a biomedical engineering major from Springfield. She won a gold medal in the women’s 10-meter air rifle at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and she is a four-time NCAA Champion Rifle team winner and nine-time All American champion. She is sponsored by the Student Athlete Advisory Committee.

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