Kissimmee’s Ashley Carino among Miss Universe Top 5

By Ken Jackson on Tuesday, January 17, 2023

Former Miss Florida and current Miss Puerto Rico, Kissimmee's Ashley Carino was among the top 5 of 84 contestants in Saturday's Miss Universe 2022 pageant in New Orleans. PHOTO VIA UCF TWITTER

Ashley Ann Carino Barreto, the Kissimmee woman who claimed the Miss Florida USA title in 2021, placed among the top five in the 71st Miss Universe pageant this weekend in New Orleans.

Carino competed as Miss Puerto Rico, representing her hometown of Fajardo on the island, a place where she said pageant winners are idolized and where her mother Olga participated in them.

She was among the top five finalists Saturday night that included the winner, Miss Universe 2022, R’Bonney Gabriel of Texas, 1st Runner-Up Amanda Dudamel of Venezuela, 2nd Runner-Up Andreina Martinez of the Dominican Republic, and fellow finalist Gabriela Dos Santos of Curacao.

Her family moved to Kissimmee when she was five years old, and she is a 2012 graduate of Professional and Technical High School (PATHS). She is currently pursuing an aerospace engineering degree at UCF. Last year she noted work as a social rehabilitator which put her in contact with people of all ages who have mental health diagnoses that inhibit their lives — work near and dear to her, as she overcame childhood ADHD. She’s also partnered with the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office on an anti-bullying campaign

Her win at the July 2021 Miss Florida Pageant — her first time ever competing in such an event — marked the first time a Kissimmee woman had won that crown. She followed that up with earning Second Runner-Up at the Miss USA pageant in December. It’s just the third time since 1980 that Miss Florida earned a top-three Miss USA spot. She said then that hearing her name called as Second Runner-Up was “a brief moment of disappointment,” but it was not as low as the highs of the to get there journey have been high.

“Getting the final four of a national competition is an accomplishment unto itself,” Carino said at the time.

https://www.aroundosceola.com/lifestyle/kissimmees-ashley-carino-among-miss-universe-top-5