THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Saturday, July 22, 1995 TAG: 9507220291
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B2 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: ROANOKE LENGTH: Short : 35 lines
Andrea Ballengee said losing the Miss Virginia title amid claims she exaggerated her credentials was humiliating, but the Newport News woman said no one can take away her memory of the crowning glory.
``The thrill of being crowned Miss Virginia from so many wonderful candidates is something that I will never forget,'' she said.
Ballengee, 21, admitted Friday to making mistakes, while leaving out the details, and vowed to find a silver lining in the scandal.
The heiress apparent, first-runner up Amber Medlin of Virginia Beach, arrived Friday at the pageant headquarters in Roanoke. She said pageant officials were reviewing her resume before deciding whether to award her the crown.
Ballengee held the title for less than three weeks when pageant officials on Thursday terminated her right to represent Virginia in the Miss America pageant. They also took back a car loaned to her and evicted her from an apartment she was to use during her reign.
Pageant officials said new information, which they refused to reveal, had raised questions about her background. WDBJ-TV and WSLS-TV in Roanoke reported Thursday night that at least one aspect of the new information was that Ballengee claimed to be a law student at a university when in fact she had not been accepted. by CNB