On Friday night, Diana excelled in the Talent competition Her Dance Twirl performance was flawless as she proudly and ambitiously entertained the audience. Her excitement and enthusiasm is very contagious! The talent portion carries a weight of 35% by itself and is therefore the single most important aspect of the total competition. Contestants must show: true talent and entertainment abilities; interpretive ability; technical skill level (execution, technique, synchronization, and control); stage presence and on-stage personality; totality of all elements (including costume, props, voice, use of body, and choreography). Diana competed against some excellent talent including Anne Michael Langguth, Miss Johnson County, who won the Talent competition and received the Lucky Lang Realtor(R) Award which included a college scholarship!

Diana also had her On-Stage Question portion on Friday night (it actually is comprised of two questions) which she handled well. This is no surprise as she was featured in 2006 as Fortune Small Business Management Magazine's Student Entrepreneur, named the 2007 Outstanding Business Student, and is President of the Beta Gamma Honor Society! During this phase contestants earn 5% of their total score and must show: an ability to articulate both a sincere, engaging personality and her own opinions; confidence and stage presence; an ability to answer the questions in the time allotted and in context; and an ability to be a spokesperson for the Miss America Organization.
Diana Recently graduated from the University of Iowa where she was the Golden Girl with the University of Iowa Hawkeye's Marching band. UI marching band director Kevin Kastens worked with Reed for the past five football seasons and said she was a crowd favorite of Hawkeye fans young and old.

"I'm not surprised she dazzled (the judges) with her talent," Kastens said. "She has a wonderful personality on and off the stage. Diana is the best Golden Girl and baton twirler I have ever seen in 30 years, he continued. The entire band votes on the "Rank of Honor" the highest honor bestowed on a band member and Diana received it for four years as the Golden Girl. "Not only is she the best twirler she is a fantastic ambassador for the University and takes time for everyone."

Diana started baton when she was four years old with her longtime coach Jan Stivers of the Norwalk Superstars. Diana has continued to be a fantastic role model for the Superstars students and has performed every year in the recitals even through college. This year Diana competed in Las Vegas at a baton contest on Saturday and caught a 4:30 a.m. flight back to Des Moines to do a special tribute to her coach Jan at the Sunday Norwalk Superstars recital. She also thanked her mom, dad & her best friend, sister Dawn Reed at the performance.

Coach Jan Stivers said, "it is such a thrill to see Diana win something she has worked hard for. She is such a beautiful young lady inside and out. Her character counts platform is perfect for her because she truly exemplifies the six pillars. She is one of the most loyal young ladies and never says anything bad about anyone even when she has been treated unfairly."

Denny Wulf Superintendent of Norwalk Community Schools said "from a young age Diana had a desire to give back to Norwalk and to society. She is an extremely bright and talented young lady and knew that with the gifts she has been given comes responsibility. She has an outstanding character and realized the significance of being a role model. Everyone in the school district is so happy to see her succeed at her goals."

Miss Iowa will go on to compete next year in Las Vegas for the title of Miss America. The Miss America Organization is the single largest source of college scholarships for women in the world! She also will be the National Goodwill Ambassador for the Children's Miracle Network by making appearances throughout the country at the 170 children's hospitals that help over 17 million children every year! The total in-kind scholarships offered to 2007 Miss Iowa contestants is $631,400! The Miss America Organization and it's state and local organizations together have made available over $45 million in cash and college scholarship assistance to the thousands of women who have competed throughout 2007!

As Miss Iowa Diana received an all expense paid trip to the Miss America competition, the official State Miss America crown & pin, a $10,000 Marco Achievement Scholarship, $1,500 wardrobe allowance from the Miss Iowa Corporation, $1,000 Miss America Community Service Scholarship, a fur coat, a 2008 Jeep Liberty for a year, an apartment & furniture in Davenport for a year. She also received full service hair, nails, tanning and make up for a year. Massages and membership in three fitness gyms for the year, free dental and health care for a year, a ladies Bulova watch, $6,500 gift certificates from local merchants plus various other gifts from the businesses in the Quad City.

Diana will spend the year traveling across Iowa visiting schools to campaign for the platform issue "Character Counts." Reed has been visiting schools for the past four years stressing the importance of having moral character.
Besides talking to children, Reed said she would like to "get into the corporate world" to discuss making ethics a priority in business.