INWOOD, W.Va. — Berkeley County native Miss West Virginia Elizabeth Lynch represented the Mountain State in the iconic Miss America
Competition
She made history when she became the second Miss West Virginia to
make the Top Five at the Miss America Competition.
The Martinsburg native finished
as 3rd runner up to Miss America 2023 Grace Stanke from Wisconsin.
Lynch advocated on behalf of the Agriculture industry in the nationally famed
competition telling her audience about the huge responsibility the industry has
feeding 8 billion people all over the world, everyday. A summa cum laude graduate
of Delaware State University and a recent graduate of West Virginia University with a
Master of Science in Food and Nutritional Science, Lynch will enter a PhD Program
next fall, putting her $24,500 in scholarship earnings to good use.
The 101 year old Miss America Competition has a rich history as an American icon and
as the largest provider of scholarships for young women in the world. Lynch
competed with young women from all 50 states and the District of Columbia in a
three night competition which has reinvented itself in the last decade. No longer a
“beauty pageant,” the Miss America prides itself in promoting women who are driven
and relevant like Lynch.
Regarding the experience, Lynch added, “My two goals
were to put West Virginia out there in a positive light and to finish paying for my
education. Everything else and beyond was icing on the cake!”
The Miss West Virginia Organization is led by State Director Shelley Nichols-Franklin
who was in the audience to watch as Lynch’s name was called into the Top 11, Top 7
and eventually as 3rd runner to Miss America. “Our delegation was thrilled to hear
Elizabeth’s name called out first in the Top 11 announcement. To see her named as
3rd runner up to Miss America is a moment I will never forget.”
