Greek-German Betty Cantrell Crowned Miss America

Betty Cantrell, the Greek Miss Georgia, was just crowned Miss America 2016 on Sunday night in Atlantic City.

Miss America is of Greek and German descent, and is very loyal to her Greek roots and traditions; she sings in her local Greek Orthodox church choir and participates in a Greek dance group. “Betty” is also the Americanized version of her Greek first name “Vasiliki”.

Cantrell grew up in rural Georgia on 700 acres “managed for wildlife”, and spent her childhood learning to farm and handle shotguns. Her current dream is to one day perform on Braodway, as she relied on her singing talent to net her a victory in the competition.

In the competition, Cantrell wowed the judges with her striking looks and her rendition of “Tu Tu Piccolo Iddio” from “Madame Butterfly”, and so was award both the title of Miss America and $50,000 in scholarship money. After her win, the grateful beauty queen could only tell reporters “I’m still so overwhelmed, I don’t know what to say other than thank you!”

Betty has hinted that she may use her newfound platform in order to promote healthy eating among children, as she says “Child obesity is a real problem. I grew up eating healthy. Others are not that fortunate.”

We look forward to seeing what the new Miss America will do with her title.