Massaponax grad is new Miss Virginia

June 30, 2009 12:35 am

Miss Arlington Caressa Cameron (right) cries with runner-up Miss Greater Richmond Shannon Beam after Cameron won the Miss Virginia Pageant Saturday night.

A former Miss Fredericksburg Fair captured the Miss Virginia crown Saturday night and will compete next year to be Miss America.

Caressa Cameron, the daughter of Jerome and La- Vern Cameron of Spotsylvania County, was Miss Arlington in the pageant, which was held in Roanoke.

She had competed in the pageant three times before, finishing as first runner-up in 2008 and second runner-up the two previous years, according to The Roanoke Times.

"This is not my life right now," Cameron told The Roanoke Times immediately after the crowning. "This just goes to show that hard work and determination will eventually pay off."

Cameron, a Massaponax High School graduate, won a $16,500 scholarship for winning the pageant, in addition to a $1,000 scholarship she won as Friday night's preliminary talent winner, the newspaper reported. She sang "Listen" from "Dreamgirls."

Cameron is the second Fredericksburg-area resident to win the Miss Virginia crown. Michelle Kang of Stafford County was Miss Virginia 1996.

--Staff report