Swimsuit

Tuesday, Aug. 12 8 p.m. on NBC "Miss Teen USA" Mario Lopez and Brooke Burns will host the event, live from Palm Springs, Calif. Contestants from across the nation will be judged in three categories - swimsuit, evening gown and interview. 10 p.m. on Animal Planet "Animal Cops: Houston" Investigators from the Houston SPCA are followed in this new series patterned on "Animal Precinct. " Officers handle cases that range from tracking down illegal exotic animals to dealing with people who are starving and abusing pets.

by RICHARD T. MEAGHER / staff photographer enlargement Theater hosting pageant hopefuls Miss Antietam, Samantha Marie Spates, won the talent competition and Miss Tidewater, Heather Metzger, received the swimsuit award Thursday night before an audience of about 800 as the Miss Maryland Scholarship Pageant preliminaries began at The Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown. Spates, of Walkersville, Md., received a $400 scholarship and a plaque for winning the preliminary talent award.

HAGERSTOWN -- Twenty women vying for the crown of Miss Maryland 2009 took the stage at The Maryland Theatre for the second round of preliminary competition Thursday night. Winners in Thursday's prelimnary competition, were Miss Greater Baltimore Lindsay Staniszewski, who won the swimsuit and evening wear awards; Miss Montgomery County Jessica Bermudez, who won the newcomer talent award; and Miss University City Brooke Poklemba, who won the talent award. Miss Maryland will be crowned Saturday at The Maryland Theatre.

Applications are now being accepted for the title of Mrs. Maryland International 2013, an official preliminary to the Mrs. International Pageant, which will be Tuesday, July 16, through Saturday, July 20, at North Shore Center for the Performing Arts Theater in Chicago. The woman selected as Mrs. Maryland International 2013 will become an ambassador from Maryland and will receive an official title, crown and sash. Competitions will include private one-on-one interview, with each contestant selecting a platform that she will speak about throughout her reign; fitness wear (in lieu of swimsuit competition)

chrisc@herald-mail.com The Miss Maryland pageant concluded its preliminary round of competition Friday at The Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown with three winners announced by pageant judges. Miss Catoctin Jessica Diaz, 21, of Cumberland, Md., won the night's talent award. She sang "Havana," title song to an upcoming New York musical, to a thunderous ovation. She earned a $600 scholarship. Miss Mountain City Rachel Leigh Ellsworth, 19, of Fort Ashby, W.Va., won the swimsuit award, wearing a white bikini.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - The Berkeley County Fire and Rescue Queen Scholarship Pageant is seeking candidates for the 2002 pageant to be Saturday, June 29, at Tomahawk Elementary School. The winner will compete in the 2003 Shenandoah Apple Blossom Fire and Rescue Chief's Pageant in Winchester, Va. The contestant must be a Berkeley County resident between the ages of 14 and 19. One typed page platform topic on a current issue facing teens today is required. No talent or swimsuit. Contestants will model street wear and evening wear.

Miss Maryland Miss College Park and Miss Lanham winners in opening night preliminaries By TERI JOHNSON Staff Writer Miss College Park Diana Soriano won the talent competition and Miss Lanham Brandy Reese received the swimsuit award Thursday night as the Miss Maryland Scholarship Pageant preliminaries began at The Maryland Theatre in Hagerstown. During the finale, the theater's automatic fire alarm went off, apparently triggered by a special effects machine used for a laser show.

kristinw@herald-mail.com Miss Annapolis Ashley Windle won both the talent competition and the Newcomer Talent Award for her classical violin performance Thursday during the second night of preliminary competitions at the Miss Maryland Scholarship Pageant at The Maryland Theatre. Windle earned $350 in scholarships. Miss Western Maryland Rachel Ellsworth won the preliminary swimsuit competition for the third year in a row and earned a $100 scholarship. Miss Maryland contestants will compete today in a 12-minute press conference-style interview with judges.

Miss Patuxent Elizabeth Borowsky wowed the audience - and judges - Wednesday night at The Maryland Theatre with an original piano composition, "Northern Lights," to win the talent portion on the first night of preliminary competitions in the Miss Maryland Scholarship Pageant. Borowsky earned a $250 scholarship for the piece she composed after drawing inspiration from a trip to Norway. Miss Greater Baltimore Courtney Gebhard and Miss Tidewater Jennifer Witowski tied for first place in the swimsuit competition.

CLARKSBURG, W.Va. - A 21-year-old native of Charles Town, W.Va., was crowned Miss West Virginia 2003 on Sunday, according to the pageant's Web site. Allison Williams, a graduate of Jefferson High School who now lives in Morgantown, W.Va., was selected from among 20 contestants to win the title. She will represent the state in the Miss America Pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., in September. Williams is a student at West Virginia University, where she is majoring in journalism and public relations.