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Uniontown woman captures title

By Michelle Thompson For The 4 min read

As one of the younger contestants in her age group vying for the Queen Miss title at Pennsylvania’s Sunburst Beauty Pageant in Harrisburg, Briana Catalano of Uniontown had to look within herself to find the extra edge that would help her stand out. “It was intimidating,” the 16-year-old Catalano said. “I knew that I could try to pull off winning by letting my personality shine through.”

Surrounded by potential queens with their own makeup and hair artists, Catalano stood with only one other pageant under her belt.

Before the overall winners were announced, those who won in the optional categories were recognized. Catalano won Best Eyes, Swimwear Winner and received first runner-up in Party Wear. Additionally, the judges recognized her and three other girls who had caught a modeling/acting agency’s eye.

“I was thinking in my head that if I just go home with these side awards, I’ll be happy,” said Catalano. “I wasn’t expecting to win.”

She won Pennsylvania’s Miss Sunburst title in the statewide pageant and will continue on to the Sunburst Internationals in Atlanta, Ga., on July 29-31. Before competing in this state-level pageant, Catalano had participated only in a Miss Pennsylvania Teen USA pageant.

“(Competing in my first pageant) was like jumping into new water,” she said. “I didn’t know the tricks of the trade.”

“It was high-powered competition,” added her father, Terry Catalano. “You could tell all of them were in tip-top shape.”

In preparation for her second pageant, Catalano spent time researching the latest trends. “I made my mom watch me practice my walk for hours,” she said. “I couldn’t even tell you how many times she listened to my speech.”

The contestants had to give a two- or three-minute speech about themselves in front of the entire audience. Nervously, Catalano focused on her mother and talked about horseback riding, watercolor painting, playing tennis and learning how to become a disc jockey. She spoke of her hopes to become a pediatrician as well as breaking into the modeling/acting industry.

“She is very photogenic,” said Terry Catalano. “She has a lot of drive (and) ambition. … Everything always has to be the best she can do, or she wouldn’t even attempt it.”

While learning to walk with poise and appear confident while speaking in front of an audience presented its own challenges, Briana Catalano also dedicated herself to a healthy diet and exercise regimen.

She maintains a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet in conjunction with a regular exercise routine that consists of about 200 sit-ups each day as well as strength training and yoga. Additionally, she spends an hour performing various cardiovascular workouts, such as running on the elliptical machine or playing tennis.

She hopes to develop muscle tone and definition as well as healthful eating habits.

“I didn’t want to look the typical thin,” she said. “I wanted to look healthy.”

In between preparing for her upcoming competition, looking into the modeling/acting agencies scouting her and maintaining top grades at her online high school, Catalano has had to give up some of her free time. However, she doesn’t regret her ambition toward striving for her dream of modeling for the cover of magazines such as Cosmopolitan.

“If you have a goal and a dream, you should do whatever you can to attain that,” she said.

While doors open for Catalano at modeling/acting agencies, the 16-year-old looks forward to working through her senior-level online courses in the American Virtual High School.

By picking up the pace with some of her courses, she hopes to finish in the next few months.

In the future, she hopes to graduate from Penn State University’s Milton S. Hershey Medical School and become a pediatrician.

“With her ambition, drive and talent, I think she can succeed as much as she wants to succeed,” said her father. “She’ll go as high as she wants.”

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