Penn State Alum is in Miss America Pageant

By ha-mace (Chief Contributor)
Tags: Miss America, Miss Virginia, Tara Wheeler

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Created: 07/01/2008
12:55 PM

Quick, name a famous Penn State Alum that wasn't an athlete? It's tough, right? I've got Jonathan Frakes (Commander Riker on Star Trek: The Next Generation) and Benjy Bronk (he's on the Howard Stern show). Yea, it's a short list, which is ridiculous considering we're supposed to have the largest alumni association in the country. Oh well, if things work out we might add a Miss America to our list. You're right, probably not.

Last weekend Tara Wheeler, who graduated in 2006 with a degree in journalism, was crowned Miss Virginia meaning she will move on to the 2009 Miss America pageant and won a $16,000 scholarship. So, that's what you do with a journalism degree! Silly me, I was looking for jobs with a newspaper or something.

Anyway, Wheeler has a pretty interesting story. Obviously going to the Miss America pageant is a big deal, but Wheeler doesn't seem like the typical pageant girl (not that I would really know I guess), since she was the goalie on the Penn State women's ice hockey team and was a cadet for the Air Force ROTC. Impressive.

Two years ago Wheeler was Miss Pittsburgh and competed for the Miss Pennsylvania crown but lost. She then jumped ship and went to Virginia where she was Miss Blue Ridge Mountains last year and Miss Arlington this year. The move to Virginia was probably a smart one since the last time a Miss Pennsylvania won the Miss America pageant was 1954.

So good luck to Tara. You didn't win Hottest Girl on Campus, so maybe the whole Miss America thing can be a good consolation prize.