Alexandria And Arlington Crown Their First USA Circuit Beauty Queens

[Sydney Carmony, Julia Kauffman, Amanda Jones, Kristen Adams, Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Sydney Halo]

On Saturday, September 15th, 2012, at Bryant High School in Alexandria, VA, P.inc Pageants, led by John Paul Hamilton and Miss VA USA 2011 Nikki Poteet, crowned six young women in three age divisions at the inaugural Miss Arlington County and Miss City of Alexandria pageant. The phases of competition included private one-on-one personality interview in front of a panel of seven judges in the morning, followed by a swimsuit round, evening gown round and lastly, a final question round in front of an audience in the evening. Girls came from all over Virginia, DC, and Maryland to compete.

[Jahaira Bratton, Becky Lee]

The reigning Miss Virginia USA 2012, Dr. Catherine Muldoon, a practicing dentist of Konikoff Dentistry in Virginia Beach, crowned the the Miss and Teen winners as follows: Miss Arlington County is Kristen Adams of Arlington, VA, Marymount University; Miss Arlington County Teen is Caelynn Miller-Keyes, a senior at Stafford High School in Fredericksburg, VA; and Sydney Halo, a sophomore at Patriot High School in Gainesville, VA, is Miss Arlington County Pre-Teen. Miss City of Alexandria is Amanda Jones, native of Arlington, VA and a graduate of Virginia Tech; Miss City of Alexandria Teen is Julia Kauffman, of Springfield, VA, a junior at West Springfield High School; and Sydney Carmony of Chester, VA won Miss City of Alexandria Pre-Teen. Jahaira Bratton won Miss Photogenic, and the People's Choice Award for raising the most money for the philanthropy of the night, Becky's Fund. A total of $450 was raised for the charity.

The winners will also work with Becky's Fund as their platform, a charity that raises awareness for domestic abuse victims, founded by Survivor contestant and lawyer Becky Lee. The Miss and Teen winners will compete for Miss Virginia USA and Miss Virginia Teen USA this November in Bristol, VA.

Each winner went home with a prize package worth about $10,000. Winners received cash prizes totaling over $3,000, as well as many other prizes and sponsorships, including; SameSky bracelets, worth $200 each; jewelry from "Cuffs of Love" by Igal Dahan, I.D. X-Change; hair sponsorship for the duration of their reign from W Salon in Burke, Virginia; shoes from Chinese Laundry; gift packages from Haughty Cosmetics; gift packages from ZenCastle skin care, a personal nutritionist, Alicia Rindge of Healthy Mind Nutrition; personal trainers, Travis Moss for the Alexandria winners and Michael Endress for the Arlington winners; gift cards from local designers and boutiques such as Elizabeth St. John, Tsyndyma, Deja Vu boutique, Annalee's Prom, Bridal and Special Occassions, and many more.

[Nikki Poteet, John Paul Hamilton, Amanda Jones, Kristen Adams, Julia Kauffman, Sydney Carmony, Miss Greater Fairfax Teen Riley Copans]

The evening concluded with an after party at Agua Viva in Old Town Alexandria, which included a champagne toast for those over 21, and a $500 cake, courtesy L'Enfant Plaza Hotel.

[photos by Kipp Burgoyne used with permission]