Kelly McCorkle Parkison, (born December 27, 1979) held the title of

Miss South Carolina The Miss South Carolina competition is the pageant that selects the representative for the state of South Carolina in the Miss America pageant. The pageant was first held in Myrtle Beach and moved to Greenville starting in 1958 and remained in ...

2002 and placed in the Top 15 at the

Miss America 2003 Miss America 2003, the 76th Miss America pageant, was televised live from Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Saturday, September 21, 2002 on the ABC Network. Erika Harold of Illinois won the pageant. Results Placements Order of ...

Pageant held on September 21, 2002, in Atlantic City, NJ. She also competed in ''

The Amazing Race 7 ''The Amazing Race 7'' is the seventh season of the American reality television show ''The Amazing Race''. It featured eleven teams of two competing in a race around the world. The season premiered on CBS March 1, 2005, and concluded on May 10, ...

'' with then boyfriend Ron Young and placed 3rd overall.

Pageants

She competed at

2002 as Miss Golden Corner and was both a Preliminary Swimsuit and Preliminary Talent winner. This was her third try at the

title. She was a 23-year-old

cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sou ...

graduate of

North Greenville College North Greenville University is a private Baptist university in Tigerville, South Carolina. It is affiliated with the South Carolina Baptist Convention ( Southern Baptist Convention). It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges ...

, who was working as a

spokesperson A spokesperson, spokesman, or spokeswoman, is someone engaged or elected to speak on behalf of others. Duties and function In the present media-sensitive world, many organizations are increasingly likely to employ professionals who have receiv ...

at the time that she won the

title. Her platform was

learning disabilities Learning disability, learning disorder, or learning difficulty (British English) is a condition in the brain that causes difficulties comprehending or processing information and can be caused by several different factors. Given the "difficult ...

, which she chose because she had a learning disability and was told that she would never graduate from

high school A secondary school describes an institution that provides secondary education and also usually includes the building where this takes place. Some secondary schools provide both '' lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper seconda ...

or go to

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') is an educational institution or a constituent part of one. A college may be a degree-awarding tertiary educational institution, a part of a collegiate or federal university, an institution offering ...

. Her talent was

Lyrical Ballet Lyrical ballet is an offshoot of the now-obsolete Russian lyrical ( Soviet ballroom) dances. It is a lilting style of dance that uses the ballet technique along with the Soviet ballroom dance forms. The word lyrical refers to a lilting, poetic ...

. She placed in the Top 15 at the

pageant. McCorkle is the half-sister of Courtney Cisson, Miss South Carolina's Outstanding Teen 2008.

''The Amazing Race''

In 2004, she competed on ''

'' with her boyfriend, Ron Young, a former

Iraq War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق (Kurdish languages, Kurdish) , partof = the Iraq conflict (2003–present), I ...

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of wa ...

. They met after Ron was rescued by the

United States Marines The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

and during her reign as

2002. They had been dating ever since. At the time of ''

The Amazing Race ''The Amazing Race'' is an adventure reality game show franchise in which teams of two people race around the world in competition with other teams. The ''Race'' is split into legs, with teams tasked to deduce clues, navigate themselves in forei ...

'', she had been working as a legislative correspondent. They decided to compete in ''The Amazing Race'' because they wanted to experience

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

. They ended up staying on the show until the very end, placing 3rd overall. They broke up after season was done filming.

The Amazing Race 7 finishes

*An placement with a double-dagger () indicates that Ron and Kelly were the last to arrive at a pit stop in a non-elimination leg. * An ''italicized'' placement means it was Ron and Kelly's placement at the midpoint of a double leg. *A indicates Ron and Kelly were on the receiving end of the Yield. ''Roadblocks performed by McCorkle are bolded '' ;Notes

References

Miss America 2003 delegates People from Greenville, South Carolina Greenville College people Living people 1979 births Participants in American reality television series {{US-pageant-bio-stub