HOT SPRINGS -- On a sequined Saturday night at Hot Springs' Summit Arena, Ashton Campbell earned the Miss Arkansas 2014 crown without her parents.
The 20-year-old redhead wiped tears from her purple velvet evening gown as she called her mother and father, Roger and Tonia Campbell, at Washington Regional Medical Center, where her father was recovering from emergency surgery.
"I credit my parents," Campbell said. "My parents have sacrificed absolutely everything for me: financially, physically, emotionally."
Campbell, who qualified as Miss Ouachita River, was a clear favorite from the beginning, snagging a handful of the pageant's additional 32 awards before her victory, including business leadership, people's choice and newcomer's. But the former Miss Arkansas Outstanding Teen 2011 said she was shocked.
"Did you see me?" she said. "When they said Miss Ouachita River I thought I jumped out of my skin."
Campbell, a sophomore at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, will travel the state this year promoting a variety of forms of postsecondary education with her platform "Aim Higher: Setting Our Sights on Higher Education."
In addition to a prize package worth more than $75,000, the Hindsville native earned the right to vie for the Miss America 2015 title in Atlantic City, N.J., on Sept. 14.
Miss Metro, Bailey Moses, 19, was first runner-up, and earned an $8,000 scholarship,
Campbell and Moses were two of 10 semifinalists plucked from a batch of 46 hopefuls at this year's week-long Miss Arkansas Pageant.
The contestants arrived in Hot Springs last Sunday and plunged into competition Monday and Tuesday for individual interviews. The women then alternated among talent, swimsuit and evening wear phases Wednesday, Thursday and Friday to earn preliminary rankings.
The semifinalists, chosen based on their first-round scores, were announced shortly after the final show began Saturday night with a parade of ruby lips and bedazzled emerald dresses.
Rounding out the Top 10 were: Miss Petit Jean Valley Claire Hodgson, 20, of Russellville; Miss University of Central Arkansas Makenzie Moore, 22, of Harrison; Miss Arkansas Delta Jacey Winn, 18, of Delta; Miss Spirit of Arkansas Loren McDaniel, 21, of Van Buren; Miss Henderson State University Brittney Humphrey, 21, of Fordyce; Miss Ouachita Baptist University Abby Lindsey, 21, of Van Buren; Miss Diamond Lakes Lauren Howell, 24, of Conway; and Miss Frisco Springs Samantha Hudon, 22, of Hot Springs.
The finalists, locked into a tighter 10-person competition, repeated their talent, evening wear and swimsuit performances for the panel of five judges and just over 3,000 spectators at the arena Saturday night.
For her talent, which weighs heaviest in preliminary rankings, Campbell performed a vocal rendition of "Note to God."
Before relinquishing her crown, Miss Arkansas 2013 Amy Crain performed twice: once with 81 tiny princesses and princes shouting "Let It Go" from Disney's Frozen, and again in a tearful duet with her fiance of Jason Mraz's "I Won't Give Up."
A Section on 06/22/2014