Kaitlyn Riley crowned 2018 Alice In Dairyland, will serve as ambassador for agriculture

Kaitlyn Riley, 24, of Gays Mills was named  the 2018 Alice in Dairyland
at the Adams-Friendship Fine Arts Center in Adams on Saturday night.

Riley, who grew up on a Jersey dairy farm, was named this year's Alice over five other finalists.

She will work as a communications professional for the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection and will focus on the importance of agriculture to the state's economy. 

It is estimated Riley will travel 40,000 miles over the next year for speaking events, media interviews and meetings with students in more than 100 classrooms. 

Riley is a 2017 journalism graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

After college graduation, Riley, who was an Alice finalist last year
in Green Bay, worked as a reporter for a television station in  
Eau Claire. 

Riley is Wisconsin's 71st Alice in Dairyland. She will begin her state post June 4, succeeding 2017 winner Crystal Siemers-Peterman, 23, of Cleveland. 

She is the daughter of Paulette and Jody Ray Riley of Gays Mills and becomes the second Crawford County woman to win the state title — after Cheryl Ann O'Brien of Eastman in 2009.

The remaining five Alice finalists from the two-day event were Kristen Broege, 23, of Janesville; Sydney Endres, 23, of Lodi; Alexus Grossbier, 23, of Elk Mound; Jacqueline Hilliard, 24, of Wisconsin Dells; and Megan Nicole Schulte, 22, of Hammond.

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