Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: SATURDAY, July 2, 1994                   TAG: 9407040137
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: MELISSA CURTIS STAFF WRITER
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

MISS VA. CROWNED TONIGHT

The moment she had long awaited - the moment her name was announced as Friday night's winner of the Miss Virginia preliminary talent competition at the Roanoke Civic Center.

Davis, Miss Portsmouth Seawall, captured the title after she sang "This Is the Moment" to a roaring crowd in the second day of preliminary competition of the 41st annual Miss Virginia pageant.

"Overall, this is the best I've ever done," Davis said amid a group of adoring young fans. "It's a blessing from the Lord above."

Winner of the preliminary swimsuit competition was a beaming Wendi Crouch, Miss Vinton Dogwood Festival.

"I've been dancing since I was 5 years old," Crouch said. "Fortunately, that kept me in shape. I had to do very little weight training."

Clad in an elegant white gown and long white gloves, Davis, who has been singing since she was 3 years old, wowed the audience with her performance of the song from the London musical "Jekyll and Hyde."

She said she chose the song because it is a "personal anthem" to herself.

"I sang it on a cruise ship," said Davis, a native of Hampton. "It means so much to me."

Davis, an admission counselor at Hampton University, plans on getting her master's in counseling.

Crouch, of Annandale, said her swimsuit win gives her incentive for tonight, when the top ten finalists will compete for the Miss Virginia title. The winner will go on to compete in the Miss America pageant in Atlantic City, N.J.

Crouch, a 24-year-old graduate of the University of Virginia, works as a systems engineer in Northern Virginia.

"I feel absolutely wonderful," Crouch said. "I have really positive feelings for tomorrow night. We'll just see what happens."

Nancy Glisson, Miss Virginia 1993, will crown 1994's Miss Virginia at the Roanoke Civic Center. The pageant begins at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $15 and are available by calling the box office at 981-1201.