Vet school graduate wins 2027 Miss Green Bay Area title

Katherine (Kate) Elise Czarny won her first Miss America local pageant title in Wisconsin when she was chosen as Miss Green Bay Area 2027 at the conclusion of the annual competition held on Oct. 17.

Czarny, 25, a first-time Miss Green Bay Area participant, was among eight young women who competed for the title at the Capitol Civic Centre in Manitowoc. This marked the first time in local pageant history that the event was held outside of Brown County. The first Miss Green Bay was Margaret J. Dionne in 1929.

Czarny, the daughter of Stanley M. Czarny Jr. and Carla Czarny, presented a “HERStory” rhetorical for talent prior to being crowned by Miss Green Bay Area 2026, Olivia Grace Heuer, of Wisconsin Rapids. Heuer, a dancer, is currently a UW-Green Bay student who was previously Miss Wisconsin Rapids in 2025.

In October 2018, Czarny was a contestant in her hometown Miss Wisconsin Rapids competition but did not place for the 2019 title. She later attended the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri where she graduated from the school’s College of Veterinary Medicine in May 2026.

Czarney earned her undergraduate degree in Animal Science from Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, Illinois before completing her Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from the University of Missouri.

While living in Missouri, Czarny competed in the Miss Missouri pageant as Miss Boone County in 2024, and then again in 2025 after winning the state open Miss Mark Twain title, never placing in either state pageant.
Currently, Czarny is employed as a mixed animal veterinarian at Veterinary Clinic in Kiel (Manitowoc County).

The remaining seven candidates for the Miss Green Bay Area 2027 title were: UW-Green Bay student Mya J. Nelson of Hartford, Phoebe Avila-Olderman of Green Bay, Grace Christina Hageman of Green Bay, Izabellah Stojka Markovic of Green Bay, returning 2026 participant McKinley Elle Sommer of Denmark, returning 2026 second runner-up Kayla T. Du Fresne of Kewaunee, and 2026 first runner-up Brittany LaCourt of Denmark who also competed in the 2026 Miss Harbor Cities contest as well as the Miss Cherryland regional pageant held in Brussels.

The 2027 Miss Green Bay Area pageant was held in conjunction with the 13th annual state open Miss Harbor Cities and Miss Harbor Cities’s Teen competitions, in which former Texas Christian University student Devlyn Gomez of Milwaukee won the overall interview award and the Miss Harbor Cities crown. She is currently an occupational therapy graduate student at Marquette University in Milwaukee. Taylor R. Antony of New Berlin was bestowed the Miss Harbor Cities’ Teen title.

Czarney and Gomez will now advance to the 100th centennial anniversary Miss Wisconsin pageant on June 19 in New Berlin, while Antony will compete in the 2027 Miss Wisconsin’s Teen program on June 18, also held in New Berlin.