They’re older, they’re wiser and some men say they’re sexier.
Cougars, with their Cubs and supporters in tow, crowned a third winner of the Miss Cougar Del Mar contest Friday evening after tallying up online votes.
Beating out four other women was Rosa Hildebrandt, who landed 493 votes for this year's contest.
“You put yourself up there and I had floods of people voting for me,” said Hildebrandt. “I was really excited about that."
“I’m an outgoing person,” said Hildebrandt in a recent interview with NBCSanDiego. “I’m easy to get along with and I feel I’m representative for being a Cougar.”
Hildebrandt said she got involved with Miss Cougar Del Mar after finding out about it through a fellow Cougar she met in a group.
The contest, which is in its third year, isn’t your run of the mill beauty pageant.
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The women who enter are all above 40, and pride themselves on retaining an active dating and social life.
The contest first originated from the Cougar II Handicap run, known to be the longest distance stakes race of the summer.
Likely voting for Hildebrandt in this year's contest were fans such as Cougar Cubs, who she described as men 35 and younger who are “very secure and not afraid to approach women and take care of themselves.”
“I’ve always dated younger guys even when I was in high school,” said Hildebrandt. “Now that I’m getting older it seems like the guys are getting younger.”
Cubs weren’t the only ones voting during the contest as Hildebrandt mentioned she had a some interesting people come up with requests for her during the voting period, “I did get one, he wanted something sexual in order for his vote, and I just said that’s ok…thank you so much. It’s not all about that, you know?”
Voting aside, Hildebrandt maintains that the contest is also about the relationship among the women, “Yes of course it’s competing but on the same token it’s not as catty as you get older.”
