Fifty-one contestants traveled to the River Spirit Casino Resort in Tulsa, Oklahoma to compete in the 70th Miss USA Pageant that took place on Monday, November 29, 2021. One of those was Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto of Kissimmee, and she was only two spots away from the win. Miss Barreto, who is the current Miss Florida, was the second runner-up in the pageant.
It was Ellen ‘Elle” Smith of Germantown, Kentucky who won the title, with Caitlyn Vogel of Minot, North Dakota coming in 2nd.
Cariño was born in Puerto Rico then moved to Kissimmee where she grew up. She attended the School District of Osceola County’s Professional and Technical High School and in 2015 she began working at Insight Behavioral Health Specialists in Kissimmee as a psychosocial rehabilitator.
In July, Cariño competed in her first beauty pageant against 70 other ladies at the Miss Florida USA 2021 pageant at the Coral Springs Center for the Arts in Coral Springs and won.
She is currently studying aerospace engineering at the University of Central Florida and hopes to work at NASA after she graduates.
On Saturday, Cariño rode along with Osceola County Sheriff Marcos Lopez in the St. Cloud Christmas Parade and was loudly congratulated by the crowd as she passed by the grandstand.
Congratulations to Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto for representing Kissimmee and Florida so excellently, and for making a positive difference in and around Osceola County!
Photo Source: Ashley Ann Cariño Barreto Instagram
