PHOTOS: 2011 Miss Greenbelt Pageant

The third day of the Greenbelt Labor Day Festival featured the crowning, evening gown and on-stage questions and answers portion of the Miss Greenbelt Pageant. More than 40 young ladies competed in three different categories. The winners were Yasmyn Switzer as Little Miss Greenbelt, Sarah Crank as Junior Miss Greenbelt and Victoria Gray as Miss Greenbelt.

After being crowned Miss Greenbelt, Gray said, “It was such a real experience. I’m really happy.” But Gray said that taking home the Miss Greenbelt crown required a lot of hard work and preparation that her mom helped her through.

“I had to study my questions a lot [and] prepare for interviewing. I practiced with my mom a lot,” Gray said. But in the end, she said she “just tried to be myself and be confident.”

Gray, a 16-year-old senior attending in the Science and Technology program is a skilled pianist who has performed at events in front of state and county politicians. She is also an honor roll student and a member of the National Honor Society.

When asked in the questions and answers how the clubs she is involved in will help her in her future career, Gray said her involvement in martial arts and in youth leadership groups has helped her develop, in particular, critical thinking and communication, skills that she will need in her future ambition as a computer engineer.

Crank, crowned Junior Miss Greenbelt, is a 13-year-old eighth-grader, currently being homeschooled. Her favorite classes are logic and Spanish. Her ambitions are to one day be a Supreme Court Justice. She presently volunteers in her church and enjoys reading, playing basketball and her two cats.

In the questions and answers, Crank said her biggest fears are underground caves and being underground. To get over that, she said she tries to learn as much as she can about caves, so she can focus on studying them rather than being afraid.

The youngest of the Miss Greenbelts, Switzer, crowned Little Miss Greenbelt, is a 10-year-old fifth-grader at Greenbelt Elementary School. Her favorite subjects in school are reading and math, she also swims and is interested in singing and acting. She would like to be a scientist or fashion designer when she grows up.

Switzer is teaching her cousins how to read and write, which is one of the items she gave for what she likes about herself in the questions and answers portion of the contest. She also offered that she loves to learn and travel.

Gray said, “The hardest part was the on-stage question. It was a lot of pressure to be asked a question on the spot and think of a quick response.”

Now that she has been named Miss Greenbelt, Gray gets to put some of those ideals into action. She said her plan is to raise money for charities, specifically the American Diabetes Association.

“A lot of my family actually has diabetes, so I’ll raise money to help cure diabetes,” Gray said.

Though this article is accompanied by photos of the winners and runners up, nearly every contestant was photographed.

Editor's Note: This story has been corrected. An earlier version of this story incorrectly spelled the name of the third alternate for Miss Greenbelt. We regret the error.