Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, September 18, 1994 TAG: 9411010060
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ATLANTIC CITY, N. J. LENGTH: Medium
Heather Whitestone, a 21-year-old Birmingham native, was the only contestant to win two preliminary competitions - swimsuit and talent.
Miss Virginia, Cullen Johnson, was first runner-up.
Whitestone was born with hearing but lost most of it after a reaction to a diphtheria-tetanus shot when she was 18 months old.
She seemed not to realize she had won when the first runner-up was announced. Then she started crying and ducked her head to receive the crown from her predecessor, Kimberly Aiken.
As she returned to the stage after walking down the runway, she said in sign language, ``I love you.''
``Her winning the Miss America competition will give inspiration to deaf children that they can also fulfill their dreams of who they want to be, whether it be Miss America or a lawyer or a teacher,'' said Sherry Duhon, a spokeswoman for Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world's only liberal arts university for the deaf.
At least one previous Miss America contestant was deaf: Jennifer Wall Steiner, a classical pianist from Washington state, was one of 10 finalists in 1989.
Johnson, 23, won the Miss Virginia crown by representing the Central Shenandoah Valley in her third appearance in the state pageant. She is a graduate of Longwood College and lives in Virginia Beach.
Whitestone enchanted the judges with her talent routine, a 21/2-minute ballet performed to the song ``Via Dolorosa.'' Although she can't hear the music, she counts beats in her head and synchronizes her dance moves to reflect changes in pitch - for example, a leap to coincide with a crescendo.
When she performed in preliminary competition, the crowd in the Atlantic City Convention Center gave her three thunderous ovations before she was finished and another at the end. The same thing happened Saturday night.
She also won a swimsuit preliminary, becoming the 28th woman in pageant history to win two preliminary events and the 14th to go on to win the crown.
A junior accounting major at Jacksonville State University, Whitestone wants to become a CPA and a dance teacher. Her Miss America platform is ``Youth Motivation: Anything is Possible.''
The second runner-up was Miss New Jersey Jennifer Makris; third runner-up was Miss Georgia Andrea Krahn; and fourth runner-up was Miss Indiana Tiffany Storm.
by CNB