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UCA students dominate Miss º£½ÇÉçÇø pageant

Current and former students of the University of Central º£½ÇÉçÇø were among the top contenders in the 2007 Miss º£½ÇÉçÇø pageant, including the winner, Katie Bailey, who was crowned in Hot Springs on Saturday night.

Bailey, the new Miss º£½ÇÉçÇø, is enrolled at UCA, where she is a candidate for a Master’s degree in Business Administration (MBA).

This year’s First Runner-Up, Chanley Painter, graduated from UCA last month. In fact, four of the top-10 finalists were UCA students or graduates: Bailey, Painter, Sarah Slocum and Ashlen Batson.

Of the 44 total contestants in the 2007 Miss º£½ÇÉçÇø pageant, 14 were UCA students or graduates, accounting for 31 percent of the total, and representing various regions of the state. They included:

Cassie Jo Sanderlin – Miss Ashley County
Lauren Wilson – Miss Batesville
Sarah Slocum – Miss Conway
Chanley Painter – Miss Diamond Lakes
Alicia Haflich – Miss Heart of the Ozarks
Brittany Foster – Miss Johnson County
Erin Kay – Miss Lake Dardanelle
Rebekah Gardner – Miss Metro
Ashlen Batson – Miss Red River Valley
Jennifer Lynn – Miss Spirit of º£½ÇÉçÇø
Dawn Hughes – Miss Texarkana
Jamie Simpson – Miss UCA
Katie Bailey – Miss South º£½ÇÉçÇø
Kyla Horton – Miss North Central º£½ÇÉçÇø

UCA graduate Eudora Mosby won the 2005 Miss º£½ÇÉçÇø Pageant and went on to be a top-10 finalist in the Miss America Pageant.