Published: June 24, 2008 11:58 am      

2008 'Cinderella Story'

Lynam of Short Gap Miss W.Va.

CUMBERLAND - Though she has never had professional training and has only competed in three pageants, Miss West Virginia and Short Gap resident Kayla Lynam will soon move on to one of the biggest in the country, Miss America.

"I had no idea it was coming," Kayla, 21, said of her Saturday win at the statewide pageant in Morgantown. "This was my first year, and I think the last time someone in West Virginia won their first year was in the late '80s. I was coming for the experience and to get a feel for what it was like."

Kayla, the daughter of Laura and Eric Lynam of Short Gap, has won each of the three pageants she has competed in, including West Virginia's Junior Miss Pageant in 2005 and Miss Eastern Panhandle in February.

In January, the Frankfort High School graduate will compete for the title of Miss America, which is a surprise for Kayla, who said she began competing in pageants for the opportunity for some scholarships.

Laura, who said Kayla has never done any professional pageant training, was surprised by the win against contestants who had gone through training and many more pageants than Kayla.

"I was her piano teacher and piano was her talent," Laura said. "She had no interview training. The judges said that they liked the naturalness and her warmth. When the news ran the story that night, they called it a 'Cinderella story.'"

As part of the Miss America Pageant, Kayla will participate in "Miss America Reality Check" on TLC, with filming slated to begin in September.

Though the show aired last year, changing the Miss America contestants' hair, makeup and style, Kayla said at this point, she has been too busy to begin to worry about how they might change hers.

Laura said she hopes the reality show will be an opportunity for her daughter to connect with other contestants and for them all to get to know one another.

What Kayla is looking forward to most, she said, is traveling to more than 100 schools this year to talk about healthier habits, her pageant platform.

FITT Habits, she said, encourages people to "think about the "Frequency that they exercise, the Intensity of their exercise, the amount of Time that they exercise and the Type of exercise they do."

Laura said Kayla is very excited about being a "good influence on the children of West Virginia." She said she considers it a wonderful opportunity, and her daughter will be able to go into all the schools in West Virginia with the messages of morals and fitness habits.

Kayla will begin touring schools and representing her state as Miss West Virginia full time after she finishes her internship at Bechtel Plant Machinery in Pittsburgh as a nuclear propulsion systems contract specialist intern. She said she was grateful her employer has been willing to work around her schedule as the new Miss West Virginia.

The full year as Miss West Virginia will also delay her graduation from Grove City College, but she is excited to get to tour the state and said the people involved in the pageant have been very helpful.

"God is really surprising," Kayla said, "but I think I have a great year in store for me."

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.