Sophomore Kelso wins Mr. Richmond sash

Sigma Chi sophomore Austen Kelso has been named Mr. Richmond 2013 after modeling a blue suit and leopard jacket and singing "First Day of My Life," while playing guitar.

Senior Joey Greener hosted Campus Activities Board's second annual Mr. Richmond pageant on Tuesday.

Nine men, each representing a different campus organization, competed for the title, a $50 Visa gift card, gold crown and homemade "Mr. Richmond" sash.

With help from the audience, judges ranked the top four participants based on four separate competitions: formal wear, Saturday-night wear, talent and a question-and-answer session.

Richmond College Student Government Association representative Samuel Diaz Pulgar, runner-up, won flowers and a silver crown. Sigma Alpha Epsilon's Luke Hatton came in third place, also winning flowers and a bronze crown, and Kappa Alpha Order's Chase Johnston was named "Mr. Congeniality" for winning fourth place and a giant smiley balloon.

Alex Duncan of Lambda Chi Alpha, Joe Gephart of ROTC, Andrew Pollack of club tennis, Michael Rotondo of Sigma Phi Epsilon and Stephen Aronson of Theta Chi also participated in the pageant.

As the contestants walked on stage for the formal wear competition, Greener shared a few details about each of them.

For the Saturday-night wear segment, participants wore button downs, construction vests, cowboy hats, monkey suits or togas.

During the question-and-answer session, Kelso said that his favorite song was Regina Spektor's "Fidelity." If given the choice, Kelso would prefer to own a yacht, rather than a sailboat, which he would name Regina, he said.

During the talent competition, Gephart and Johnston also sang, and Aronson rapped. Hatton, Rotondo and Diaz each performed a different type of dance, and Diaz brought an audience member on stage to join him.

Duncan recited an excerpt from the Vagina Monologues and Pollack performed the cinnamon challenge.

Greener announced "Mr. Congeniality," followed by the top three contestants. The audience cheered for each, and the judges took this into consideration when ranking them.

"Thanks everybody out there who cheered for me," Kelso said, pointing to his Sigma Chi brothers, "especially those guys over there."

Kelso was surprised that he had won and said that he had tried to represent his fraternity the best that he could.

"I am most excited that people thought of me highly enough to vote me Mr. Richmond," he said. "It is a really great feeling."

Contact reporter Jamie Edelen at jamie.edelen@richmond.edu