Miss Pittsburgh wins Miss Pennsylvania crown

NAZARETH, Pa. (AP) -- Victoria Lynn Bechtold, Miss Pittsburgh, won this year's Miss Pennsylvania pageant Saturday night.

Bechtold, 20, of Johnstown, was chosen from among two dozen women competing for the $6,000 college scholarship and a sparkling rhinestone crown in the competition at Nazareth Area High School.

"My mind was dead blank for once in my life," Bechtold said. "I was so nervous."

The runner-up was Melissa Wills, Miss Southwestern Pennsylvania, a 24-year-old University of Texas law student from Beaver, Pa.

Bechtold will travel throughout Pennsylvania during her one-year reign promoting her platform, and will represent the state at the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J., in September.

Preliminary interview, talent, swimwear and evening gown competitions began Thursday. Hopefuls -- all between the ages of 17 and 24 -- also selected community service platforms. Half of the contestants also participated last year.

Five Pennsylvania women have won the Miss America title since the state pageant began in 1927. Former Miss Pennsylvania Susan Spafford, of Erie, was second runner-up in the 1999 Miss America pageant.

Candace Mari Otto of Murrysville, Pa., won the 2003 Miss Pennsylvania crown.