DUNDEE, Mich. (WTVG) - Miss Michigan took the stage Saturday night
during the Miss America pageant!
Unfortunately, Elizabeth
Wertenberger from Dundee was not one of the 15
finalists.
Nevertheless, on Friday
she was among those honored with the Duke of Edinburgh Award, which focuses on
"The Young American's Challenge" -- a non-competitive,
self-development program for young adults.
Earlier in the week, she
took second runner up in the Quality of Life competition and won a $2,000
scholarship.
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LAS VEGAS (AP) - A 23-year-old beauty queen from Kenosha, Wis.,
won the Miss America pageant Saturday in Las Vegas after singing
opera and strutting in a white bikini and black beaded evening
gown.
Laura Kaeppeler also had to answer a question about whether
beauty queens should declare their politics.
"Miss America represents everyone, so I think the message to
political candidates is that they represent everyone as well," she
said. "And so in these economic times, we need to be looking
forward to what America needs, and I think Miss America needs to
represent all."
Miss Oklahoma Betty Thompson came in second, while Miss New York
Kaitlyn Monte placed third.
Kaeppeler wins a $50,000 scholarship and gets the title for one
year. Her platform during the competition was supporting and
mentoring children of incarcerated parents.
Kaeppeler was crowned the winner by a panel of seven judges
during a live telecast on ABC. The event was the culmination of a
week of preliminary competitions and months of preparations for the
titleholders from all 50 states plus the District of Columbia,
Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
As the new Miss America, Kaeppeler will spend the next year
touring the country to speak to different groups and raising money
for the Children's Miracle Network, the Miss America Organization's
official charity.
Teresa Scanlan of Nebraska won Miss America last year at age 17
to become the pageant's youngest winner ever. She said contestants'
nerves likely were at their highest point just before the pageant.
"You can always breathe a sigh of relief" once the live
pageant begins, Scanlan said.
Pageant officials earlier announced the winners of preliminary
competitions, including Kaeppeler, Thompson and Miss Hawaii Lauren
Cheape for talent; and Miss New York Kaitlin Monte, Miss Texas
Kendall Morris and Miss Utah Danica Olsen for swimsuit.
Kaeppeler took home a $2,000 scholarship for her opera
performance of "Il Bacio" in the talent competition.
Officials also said Miss Idaho Genevieve Nutting won the $2,000
Fourpoints Award, while Miss Kentucky Ann-Blair Thornton won the
$6,000 Quality of Life scholarship.
The Miss America Organization touts itself as the world's
largest giver of scholarships to women, with about $350,000 to be
given this year at the national level.
Scanlan said she planned to use her scholarship to help pay for
law school en route to a life in politics.
Elizabeth Wertenberger is announced Miss Michigan 2011 Saturday June 18, 2011, at Frauenthal Theater in Muskegon, Mich. (AP Photo/The Muskegon Chronicle, Greg Lindstrom)
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