Courtney Paige Garrett (born August 14, 1992) is an American

beauty pageant A beauty pageant is a competition that has traditionally focused on judging and ranking the physical attributes of the contestants. Pageants have now evolved to include inner beauty, with criteria covering judging of personality, intelligence, ...

titleholder from

Pamplin City, Virginia Pamplin City is a town in Appomattox and Prince Edward counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 219 at the 2010 census. The Appomattox County portion of Pamplin City is part of the Lynchburg Metropolitan Statistical Area. Hi ...

, who was chosen as

Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen The Miss Virginia's Outstanding Teen competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the Commonwealth of Virginia in the Miss America's Outstanding Teen pageant. The pageant is held each June at Bergland Center in Roanoke, Virgini ...

2009 and crowned

Miss Virginia The Miss Virginia competition is a scholarship pageant for women, with the titleholder representing Virginia in the Miss America pageant. The competition was founded in 1953 as a scholarship contest for young women, although women had represente ...

2014. She competed for the

Miss America 2015 Miss America 2015, the 88th Miss America pageant, was held at the Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sunday, September 14, 2014. Miss America 2014, Nina Davuluri crowned the winner, Miss New York, Kira Kazantsev, making it the third c ...

title in September 2014 and was named first runner-up.

Pageant career

Early pageants

Garrett began competing in beauty pageants when she was three years old. Her first competition was for Tiny Miss Appomattox in 1996. Among her childhood achievements, Garrett was crowned Little Miss State Fair of Virginia in 1998. Garrett was crowned Miss Central Virginia's Outstanding Teen 2009 and went on to win the statewide

2009 title. Trying for the national crown, Garrett placed in the Top 10 at

Miss America's Outstanding Teen Miss America's Outstanding Teen is an American scholarship pageant. It is the sister program to the Miss America Organization, and it aims to "promote scholastic achievement, creative accomplishment, healthy living and community involvement for ...

2010.

Vying for Miss Virginia

Competing as an adult, Garrett won the Miss Lynchburg 2011 title on January 29, 2011. She competed in the 2011

pageant with the platform "C.A.R.E. – Communication and Respect for Everyone" which promoted respect for individuals with handicaps plus a vocal performance of " Over the Rainbow" in the talent portion of the competition. She was named first runner-up to winner Elizabeth Crot. In December 2011, Garrett won the Miss Arlington 2012 title. She competed in the 2012

pageant with the platform "Defying Disabilities" and a vocal performance of a

Martina McBride Martina Mariea McBride (née Schiff, born July 29, 1966) is an American country music singer-songwriter and record producer. She is known for her soprano singing range and her country pop material. McBride was born in Sharon, Kansas, and relocat ...

song in the talent portion of the competition. She was named third runner-up to winner Rosemary Willis. On February 16, 2013, Garrett won the Miss Lynchburg title for a second time. She competed in the 2013

pageant with the platform "Defying Disabilities" and a vocal performance of " Caruso" by

Lucio Dalla Lucio Dalla (; 4 March 1943 – 1 March 2012) was an Italian singer-songwriter, musician and actor. He also played clarinet and keyboards. Dalla was the composer of " Caruso" (1986), a song dedicated to Italian opera tenor Enrico Caruso, and ...

in the talent portion of the competition. She was named second runner-up to winner Desiree Williams.

Miss Virginia 2014

On September 28, 2013, Garrett was crowned Miss State Fair of Virginia 2014. She entered the

pageant at the

Roanoke Civic Center Berglund Center (originally called the Roanoke Civic Center) is a 10,500-seat multi-purpose arena located in the Williamson Road neighborhood of Roanoke, Virginia. It was built in 1971. It was the former home to the Roanoke Dazzle basketball team, ...

in June 2014 as one of 26 qualifiers for the state title. Garrett's competition talent was a vocal performance of " Parla Più Piano", an

Italian language Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...

version of the

love theme "Love's Theme" is an instrumental piece written by Barry White in around 1965, and recorded and released as a single by White's The Love Unlimited Orchestra in 1973. It is one of the few instrumental and purely orchestral singles to reach No. 1 on ...

from ''

The Godfather ''The Godfather'' is a 1972 American crime film directed by Francis Ford Coppola, who co-wrote the screenplay with Mario Puzo, based on Puzo's best-selling 1969 novel of the same title. The film stars Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, ...

''. Her platform was "Defying Disabilities", focused on understanding the challenges of people with physical challenges. Garrett won the competition on Saturday, June 28, 2014, when she received her crown from outgoing Miss Virginia titleholder Desiree Williams. She earned more than $17,500 in scholarship money and other prizes from the state pageant. As Miss Virginia, her activities include public appearances across the state of Virginia.

Vying for Miss America

Garrett was Virginia's representative at the

pageant in

Atlantic City, New Jersey Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020, the city had a population of 38,497.

, in September 2014. She was the first runner-up to

Miss New York The Miss New York scholarship competition selects the representative for the state of New York in the Miss America scholarship competition. In the fall of 2018, the Miss America Organization terminated the Miss New York organization's license ...

Kira Kazantsev Kira Dixon (née Kazantsev; born July 20, 1991) is an American beauty pageant titleholder who won Miss America 2015 on September 14, 2014. She is the third consecutive Miss America winner from New York and had won the title of Miss New York on ...

for the national title and would have taken over as

Miss America Miss America is an annual competition that is open to women from the United States between the ages of 17 and 25. Originating in 1921 as a "bathing beauty revue", the contest is now judged on competitors' talent performances and interviews. As ...

if anything had interrupted her reign. Garrett earned a $25,000 scholarship prize as first runner-up.

Early life and education

Garrett is a native of

, and a 2010 graduate of

Prince Edward County High School Prince Edward County High School is a public high school located in Farmville community in Prince Edward County, Virginia Prince Edward County is located in the Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 census, the population was 21,849. It ...

Farmville, Virginia Farmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 8,216 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County. Farmville developed near the headwaters of the Appomattox R ...

. Her father is Steven Garrett, and her mother is Jeanine Garrett. Garrett has two younger brothers, Austin and Ryan. She and Austin, who has

cerebral palsy Cerebral palsy (CP) is a group of movement disorders that appear in early childhood. Signs and symptoms vary among people and over time, but include poor coordination, stiff muscles, weak muscles, and tremors. There may be problems with sensa ...

, appeared together on a

Wheaties Wheaties is an American brand of breakfast cereal that is made by General Mills. It is well known for featuring prominent athletes on its packages and has become a cultural icon in the United States. Originally introduced as Washburn's Gold Meda ...

box commemorating the 2014

Special Olympics World Games The Special Olympics World Games also known as Special Olympiad are an international sporting event for participants with intellectual disabilities, organized by the IOC-recognised Special Olympics organization. Principles Although local Speci ...

. Garrett is a May 2014 graduate of

Liberty University Liberty University (LU) is a private Baptist university in Lynchburg, Virginia. It is affiliated with the Southern Baptist Conservatives of Virginia (Southern Baptist Convention). Founded in 1971 by Jerry Falwell Sr. and Elmer L. Towns, Liberty i ...

. Garret is currently enrolled at Liberty University's School of Law and will graduate in May 2018.

References

External links

Miss Virginia official website

Senate Joint Resolution No. 349, commending Courtney Paige Garrett
by the

Virginia General Assembly The Virginia General Assembly is the legislative body of the Commonwealth of Virginia, the oldest continuous law-making body in the Western Hemisphere, the first elected legislative assembly in the New World, and was established on July 30, 161 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Garrett, Courtney Living people 1992 births American beauty pageant winners Baptists from Virginia Liberty University alumni Miss America 2015 delegates Miss Virginia winners People from Pamplin, Virginia