TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — “Champa Bay” continues to live up to its nickname.
A Tampa Bay resident was crowned Miss Florida 2021 Saturday after two rounds of competition at the RP Funding Center’s Youkey Theatre in Lakeland.
Miss Tampa, Leah Roddenberry, 22, will advance to the 100th Miss America competition, held in December at the Mohegan Sun Resort in Connecticut.
Roddenberry, a Bradenton native, studies Family, Youth, and Community Sciences at the University of Florida. According to the bio on her website, she is heavily-involved in her school and the community as a member of the Dazzlers, the official dance team of UF, a member of the Alpha Delta Pi Sorority, a Rock the Vote Florida state ambassador, and a ServiceVote 2020 Fellow for Youth Service America. She was a two time Miss Florida’s Outstanding Teen winner, the first in pageant history.
Along with the crown and title, Roddenberry earned a $18,000 scholarship. The other finalists split the remaining $67,000 in scholarship money.
Earlier in the evening Miss Winter Park’s Outstanding Teen Ruby Tilghman took home the title of Florida’s Outstanding Teen. The Miss America’s Outstanding Teen competition will be held in Orlando in three weeks.