1/27/2008

in

Kirsten Haglund, 19-year-old Miss Michigan, became the new Miss America, January 26, 2008.

Roxanna Bain

With visions of Broadway, Haglund sang "Over The Rainbow" to show off her talent, and dazzled judges in a black and gold bikini to place in front of first runner up, Miss Indiana Nicole Rash, and Miss Washington Elyse Umemoto, the second runner up.  
  
As her platform issue, she promised to promote awareness of eating disorders, an illness from which she has recovered.  
  
From Farmington Hills, Michigan, Haglund studies music at the University of Cincinnati. She is not a stranger to pageants as her mother is a volunteer, and her grandmother, Iora Hunt, competed in the 1944 Miss Michigan pageant.  
  
Her proud grandmother accompanied Haglund to a news conference where Haglund told the AP, "The only words that come to my mind is that this is a dream come true, not just for me but for my family as well; I'm not just standing up here alone."  
  
Haglund is looking forward to beginning a year of promotion for the Miss America Pageant, and representing her platform issue along with a pageant partner, the Children's Miracle Network - and enjoying her $50,000 scholarship.