Miss Texas, Ashley Melnick

Ashley Melnick, a 21-year-old Texas Christian University student, claimed the title of Miss Texas 2010 by singing “Circle of Life” at the Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant, held earlier this month at the University of Texas at Arlington.

Competing as Miss Fort Worth, Melnick was crowned at Texas Hall on the UTA campus. In Miss Texas pageant preliminary competitions, Melnick won both talent and swimsuit awards. She will be the Lone Star State’s representative at the legendary Miss America Pageant.

The new Miss Texas was named during a week of special activities marking the pageant’s 75th celebration. Dozens of former Miss Texas titleholders performed on stage, and were joined by Phyllis George and Shirley Cothran Barret, two Texans who went on to win the Miss America title.

Named first runner-up was Jordan Johannsen, Miss Irving. Others in the top five were DaNae Couch, Miss Frisco; Kendall Morris, Miss White Settlement; and Cristie Kibler, Miss Arlington.

Also crowned was a new Miss Teen Texas. She is 15-year-old Madison Fuller, who represented Frisco.

For more information, check www.misstexas.org.

Miss Teen Texas, Madison Fuller

Miss Frisco, Kathryn Dunn

Miss Texarkana, Adrianna Nelson

Kathryn Dunn, representing Frisco, and Adrianna Nelson, representing Texarkana, were named preliminary winners in the Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant Monday night at the University of Texas at Arlington.

The two received the honors after the pageant’s first evening of competition, being held for the first time at Texas Hall on the UTA campus. Dunn, 19, attends Baylor University and won the swimsuit competition. Nelson, a 21-year-old student at Houston Baptist University, took top honors in the talent competition for her vocal performance of “How Great Thou Art.”

They are two of 37 young women vying for the Miss Texas title and the chance to go on to January’s Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas. Preliminary competitions will continue Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, with the finals scheduled for 8 p.m. Friday. The pageant will be broadcast live Friday via a webcast, and details are available at www.misstexas.org.

The Miss Teen Texas Pageant is being held simultaneously with the Miss Texas competition. Preliminary winners for the teen pageant were Miss Teen Frisco, Taylor Lowery, for physical fitness and Miss Teen Plano, Madison Fuller, for talent with her ventriloquism act.

The Miss Texas Scholarship Pageant will crown a successor to Rebecca Robinson, Miss Texas 2008.  Robinson, a graduate of Texas A&M University with a degree in Spanish, performed a high-energy tap dance to “Hey Pachuco!” to win the Miss Texas title. Among her many accomplishments this year, she was chosen to sing the National Anthem at The Cotton Bowl and was selected as the subject of a United Way of America video promoting education.  

To become Miss Texas, a contestant must first win a local competition within the state. During preliminaries, the competitors are broken into three groups, with each group presenting a different part of the competition for the judges’ review. Those scores will be used to select finalists to compete in Friday’s finals.

The Miss Teen Texas Pageant, a competition that began in 1990, also will crown a new title holder Friday evening. The current Miss Teen Texas is Sydney Capello.

Tickets are available from Central Ticket Office. Check CentralTicketOffice.com.

Preliminary winners will be updated this week at www.eSocialWorld.com.