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13 young women to compete
By JULIANNE WU, Times Staff Writer Four of the contestants are from Seminole High School: Courtney Chamizo, Regina Lynn Mullins, Kelly Popowski and Rachel Potter. All are 17. Other contestants are as follows: Marlana Abounader, 21; Ellen DeSando, 22; and Kellie McKnight, 19, all from St. Petersburg College. Kimberly Kolinski, 24, and Suzanne Dani'L Metzler, 21, University of South Florida. Kolinski was Miss Seminole 2000. According to pageant rules, a previous winner may enter every two years. Also, Kristin Leann Wessel, 17, of Indian Rocks Christian High School; Michelle Marie Newton, 20, Tampa Technical Institute; Melissa Conrad, 23, a University of Florida graduate; and Ranell Margarette Tinsley, 24, a Stetson University graduate. Contestants will be judged in four areas: talent, 40 percent; interview, 30 percent; evening wear, 15 percent; and physical fitness (in swimsuits), 15 percent. Miss Seminole 2002 will receive $2,600 in scholarship money; the first runnerup will receive $1,000 and the second runnerup, $700. Two nonfinalist awards of $300 each will be made for talent and interview. Also, Miss Congeniality will get a $100 savings bond. The Seminole pageant is an official Miss America preliminary contest. Miss Seminole 2002 will head to the Miss Florida Pageant in Orlando in June and serve as a kind of "ambassador" to Seminole for a year. The state winner will compete in the Miss America pageant in September in Atlantic City. The Miss America organization is the single largest source of scholarship assistance for young women in the world, said Henny Hlas, Miss Seminole Pageant's executive director. More than $39-million is given away annually on the local, state and national levels. Tickets for Saturday's event, at $8 each, can be purchased at the Greater Seminole Area Chamber of Commerce, at the Seminole Mall information desk, or at the door.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • Tampa Bay Times
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
