Miss California USA 2012 Natalie Pack (KTLA-TV) |
PALM DESERT, Calif. (KTLA) -- UC Irvine junior Natalie Pack was crowned Miss California USA 2012 Sunday night in a pageant held at the sold-out McCallum Theatre in Palm Desert.
Pack, 22, who competed against 278 other girls for the title, called her win "surreal."
The biking and motorcycle enthusiast, who also plans to attend medical school after graduating from UCI, competed as Miss Hoag Hospital.
"I had no experience," she said in an appearance on the KTLA Morning News on Monday.
"I've always been a tomboy, she added. "I ride motorcycles. I don't do beauty pageants."
Pack said she signed up for the pageant to help get in touch with her feminine side.
"I want to get the message across to be confident," Pack said. "You just have to exude confidence and self-esteem because that's what is going to get you far in life and make you successful."
Pack also said she wants to do work to raise breast cancer awareness, because her aunt is a two-time breast cancer survivor.
The runner-up for Miss California was Miss Malibu, Brie Gabrielle, a senior at Pepperdine University.
18-year-old Alexa Jones, who represented Orange County, was crowned Miss California Teen 2012, beating out more than 100 other contestants.
Pack will go on to compete in the Miss USA pageant this summer. Last year's Miss California, Alyssa Campanella, moved on to win the Miss USA crown.
Meantime, this year's Miss California pageant made history by having the two lesbians among the contestants for the first time in 60 years.
26-year-old Jenelle Hutcherson, of Long Beach, and 19-year-old Mollie Thomas, of West Hollywood, were both approached by pageant recruiters to participate.
Thomas, who grew up in Pennsylvania and studies at UCLA, said she was proud to be one of the first openly gay women in the pageant.
She also said she hoped her run would shed a positive light on the gay community.
"I am taking this opportunity not only to fulfill some of my own aspirations, but also to be a positive role model and inspiration for the LGBTQ community and for girls everywhere," Thomas wrote on her website.
Hutcherson said she hoped to use the contest to spread a message of tolerance and equality.
This was Hutcherson's second time in the spotlight. She made it to the finals in the Miss Long Beach pageant previously, wearing a tuxedo for the evening wear competition and board shorts for the swimwear section.
Neither Thomas nor Hutcherson made it to the finals.
Pack, 22, who competed against 278 other girls for the title, called her win "surreal."
The biking and motorcycle enthusiast, who also plans to attend medical school after graduating from UCI, competed as Miss Hoag Hospital.
"I had no experience," she said in an appearance on the KTLA Morning News on Monday.
"I've always been a tomboy, she added. "I ride motorcycles. I don't do beauty pageants."
Pack said she signed up for the pageant to help get in touch with her feminine side.
"I want to get the message across to be confident," Pack said. "You just have to exude confidence and self-esteem because that's what is going to get you far in life and make you successful."
Pack also said she wants to do work to raise breast cancer awareness, because her aunt is a two-time breast cancer survivor.
The runner-up for Miss California was Miss Malibu, Brie Gabrielle, a senior at Pepperdine University.
18-year-old Alexa Jones, who represented Orange County, was crowned Miss California Teen 2012, beating out more than 100 other contestants.
Pack will go on to compete in the Miss USA pageant this summer. Last year's Miss California, Alyssa Campanella, moved on to win the Miss USA crown.
Meantime, this year's Miss California pageant made history by having the two lesbians among the contestants for the first time in 60 years.
26-year-old Jenelle Hutcherson, of Long Beach, and 19-year-old Mollie Thomas, of West Hollywood, were both approached by pageant recruiters to participate.
Thomas, who grew up in Pennsylvania and studies at UCLA, said she was proud to be one of the first openly gay women in the pageant.
She also said she hoped her run would shed a positive light on the gay community.
"I am taking this opportunity not only to fulfill some of my own aspirations, but also to be a positive role model and inspiration for the LGBTQ community and for girls everywhere," Thomas wrote on her website.
Hutcherson said she hoped to use the contest to spread a message of tolerance and equality.
This was Hutcherson's second time in the spotlight. She made it to the finals in the Miss Long Beach pageant previously, wearing a tuxedo for the evening wear competition and board shorts for the swimwear section.
Neither Thomas nor Hutcherson made it to the finals.
