LAS VEGAS – Miss Georgia Amanda Kozak was second runner-up and Miss Alabama Melinda Toole was fourth runner-up at the finals of the 2007 Miss America Pageant here Monday evening which culminated in a historic evening for the state of Oklahoma. The first runner-up was Miss Texas Shilah Phillips.
Lauren Nelson of Lawton became the second consecutive Sooner State entrant to capture the Miss America title. It is the first time a state has had back to back winners in 48 years since Mississippians Mary Ann Mobley and Lynda Lee Mead were Misses America 1959 and 1960. Last year Jennifer Berry of Tulsa became the first Miss America to be crowned in Las Vegas after organizers decided to move the pageant away from Atlantic City in hopes of attracting a younger audience.
The 20-year-old Miss Nelson is a musical theatre major at the University of Central Oklahoma. She sang the Phil Collins hit “You’ll be in My Heart” for her talent presentation. Miss Nelson won a $50,000 scholarship and will be the goodwill ambassador for the Children’s Miracle Network. Earlier in the week she won a swimsuit preliminary and was awarded an additional $1,000 grant.
Miss Kozak of Warner-Robins received a $15,000 scholarship while Miss Toole, who also was voted Miss Congeniality by CMT viewers, won an $8,000 scholarship. The Miss Congeniality finalists were revealed on the Pageant School special which debuted on the network last weekend.
Miss Tennessee Blaire Pancake of Chattanooga was awarded a $3,000 grant for being a national finalist.