UW Student Wins Miss Wyoming USA

By Emily Knight, UW News Service intern

Nov. 4, 2004 -- University of Wyoming student, Abby Norman of Sioux Falls, S.D., a 2002 graduate of Rock Springs High School, won the title of Miss Wyoming USA last month in Casper.

As Miss Wyoming USA, Norman, a junior in finance, is a spokesperson for the state of Wyoming. She will make public appearances in events across the state.

The daughter of former Rock Springs residents Marilyn and Dave Norman of Sioux Falls, Norman started her pageant career during her senior year in high school when she won the title of first runner-up in the Miss Wyoming/America pageant. Later that year she was awarded Miss Congeniality at the Miss Sweetheart Pageant in Hoopston, Ill.

Norman, a member of the UW Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority, says UW and her sorority have helped her along the way in her pageant career.

"My education at UW has certainly been an asset in this endeavor. It has helped me hone my public speaking skills, broaden my knowledge of the world, given me the opportunity to study abroad and to grow personally. My sorority, Kappa Kappa Gamma, has been my source of strength throughout college," she says.

In April 2005, Norman will represent Wyoming in the Miss USA Pageant to be held in Baltimore, Md. The winner will compete in the Miss Universe Pageant, she says.

Norman's goal is to be the first Miss Wyoming to place in the top five. She says Wyoming has never had a national title holder in either Miss USA or the Miss America program.

Posted on Thursday, November 04, 2004