Miss Orlando Courtney Sexton, a UCF student seeking a master’s degree in health administration, was named Miss Florida on Saturday and will compete in the upcoming Miss America Pageant.
The addition of Sexton, 23, to the national competition means at least two contestants with UCF ties will vie for the Miss America title Sept. 11 in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Erin O’Flaherty, who was Miss UCF 2013, was recently crowned Miss Missouri to represent that state.
Sexton, of Starke, was crowned in Lakeland over 47 other contestants and won an $18,000 scholarship. She also won the “lifestyle, fitness and swimsuit” competition earlier in the week.
Sexton last year finished in the top 10 of the Miss Florida Pageant as Miss Daytona Beach.
Finishing as 1st runner-up in the pageant was another UCF student, Lindsay Bettis, a member of the UCF KnightMoves dance team. Bettis competed as Miss Daytona Beach.
O’Flaherty, 23, owns and operates a boutique in Chesterfield, Missouri. She earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting in 2014.