
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, July 13, 1990                   TAG: 9007130477
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: DEBORAH EVANS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MISS VIRGINIA PAGEANT OPENS

Lisa Moorman, Miss Apple Blossom, hopes her third attempt at winning the Miss Virginia pageant will prove the charm. At 25 years old, this is the last year the Hardy native can compete.

And that is one reason Moorman chose the song that helped her become first-runner-up last year. As the first contestant to take the stage during Thursday night's preliminary talent competition of the 37th Miss Virginia Pageant,Moorman again sang "There's A Winner in You."

This event at the Roanoke Civic Center is the preliminary to the Miss America Pageant, in which the winner receives a $35,000 scholarship among her awards.

Moorman, a Bridgewater College graduate who was sponsored by the Shenandoah Apple Blossom Festival, already has won about $3,000 in scholarships through local pageants. She is one of 30 contestants competing to be crowned Miss Virginia on Saturday night.

"I just wanted to do [the song] again because of my age," said Moorman, who celebrates her 26th birthday next week and no longer will be eligible for the Miss Virginia pageant. "The title isn't everything. It's the experience you get out of it - the exposure. The crown is just the icing on the cake."

Moorman said she once had been told she was a show-tune type singer and not suited for the "Patti LaBelle-type" song she performed. The song was a challenge, she said, and the words of the song helped inspire her.

"The words are, `There is a winner in you,' and it is so true. It is just that every girl out there is a winner, and I've really grown to know what that means. The song is special to me because of that."

But Moorman did not win Thursday night.

The trophy went to Miss Northern Virginia, Enya Flack, who performed a harp solo, "Brise Nocturne." Flack, 24, is a graduate of George Washington University.

The winner in the preliminary swimsuit competition was second-time contestant Sheri Huffman, Miss Lynchburg.

Huffman, 22, a senior at Christopher Newport College, first competed in the Miss Virginia pageant in 1986, at age 18 and just out of high school. Huffman said she competes because "it's a lot of fun."

"It also opens a lot of doors, gives you a lot of opportunity and gives you a chance to share in the things that matter in the world."

So far, her pageant experience has put her in a position to sing with a USO troop and for Vice President Dan Quayle.

There will be a second round of talent and swimsuit competition tonight. Top contestants in the Miss Virginia pageant share $9,350 in scholarship awards. Miss Virginia receives $5,000, plus an assortment of gifts.

Contestants are judged in four categories: interview, talent, swimsuit and evening gown competitions.

by CNB