Raeceen Woolford carries a little pack of Kleenex near the top of her purse. She needs it these days. Tears spring to her eyes with little warning or provocation. Life is good, and she is grateful. It is a funny thing from such a strong young woman, but it is because of her strength that she can wear her heart on her sleeve. (Though if you tell her that, she might tear up.)

There's no question that Woolford is tough. The former Wahine volleyball player and new Miss Hawaii had a 36-inch vertical jump and could squat lift 275 pounds in her collegiate days (which were, like, last year).

But her particular brand of strength isn't rigid or overbearing. It is a graceful strength.

Fans who watched her as a Wahine walk-on from 'Iolani who often played but rarely started would cheer when Dave Shoji put his most effervescent player in the game. She had a breathtaking 14-point service run in her sophomore year, but more often, she would come into the game to serve and be pulled out soon after. Fans may have been bummed for her, but her face never registered disappointment. Her demeanor never changed. It was always head up, eyes bright, game on.

Woolford didn't grow up dreaming of crowns and evening gowns. The seeds were planted just a few years ago, when she watched the Miss Hawaii pageant with her fiance, Michael Gomes, and his mother, Keone Cook Anderson, Miss Hawaii 1980. Anderson started talking about what a great experience the Miss Hawaii Scholarship Pageant had been for her. Soon it was, you know, Raeceen, you should try.

"She emphasized that no matter what happened, it would change your life for the better. Meet people, travel, and learn so much," she recalled.

Woolford thought about it, but put the idea aside. It was a disappointing loss that made her turn her sights toward a new goal.

"In my senior season, the night we lost (in the playoffs to Middle Tennessee, ending UH's season), we were supposed to win. We were all really discouraged. We went back to the hotel room. I sat at my computer and thought, well, volleyball is over. What's the next step?"

So Woolford did what she does so well: She picked herself up and got back in the game. She contacted pageant organizers that night.

She picked up pointers from Anderson, "But not how to walk and things like that, though we did practice a couple times in the garage," she said. More, it was discussion of what the title of Miss Hawaii traditionally represents.

"Classic authenticity, the ambassador of aloha," Woolford said. "It's not about you all the time. It's about establishing relationships with people, and for me, finding the relevancy of my generation to the traditional generation."

Last year, she competed in the pageant and was third runner-up. True to form, she didn't get sulky; she got right back in the game and tried again this year.

"I thought, I can do better. I know I can."

Woolford, 24, who grew up in Pearl City in the same house her mother was raised in, lists her heritage as Hawaiian, Irish, Italian, Portuguese, Filipino and Chinese, though she's not sure how much of each. Her mother was adopted, and she never met her father.

Until last year.

It was at the 2008 Miss Hawaii pageant. She had had some indirect contact from her father via e-mail from his girlfriend. She knew he was following her volleyball career and watching from afar as she competed for Miss Hawaii. After the pageant, while everyone was swirling around her and congratulating her, a man came up to her.

"It was him," she said, "I just knew." He gave her a maile lei and then disappeared into the crowd. No words were spoken, but Woolford says, "I know I'll see him again."

When asked if it's OK to put that very personal story in the paper, Woolford seems surprised to be asked. She is so strong, she can withstand her own vulnerability. "I have nothing to hide," she said. "I'm not ashamed of anything. And maybe sharing my story will help other people."

She graduated from UH with a degree in health sciences and plans to get a masters in public health before heading to medical school. For the immediate future, she will focus on being Miss Hawaii and getting ready for the Miss America pageant in January. She is an expert at focusing on the moment at hand.

As she stood on stage June 29 among the finalists waiting to hear the announcement of the winner, she looked like she knew she had it.

"You know what it was? It was like a calm came over me. A clarity," she said. "I had worked hard and I prayed and I was at peace with whatever was going to happen."

And when her name was announced and the crown placed on her head, Woolford surprised herself. She hardly cried at all.

The young woman who got so good at losing gracefully won gracefully as well.

Lee Cataluna's column runs Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Sundays. Reach her at 535-8172.