Staff Writer

ONEONTA —An Oneonta High School senior was crowned Miss Otsego Teen-ager 2003 during the pageant at Hartwick College on Saturday night.

Christine Baker, 17, of Oneonta, was named the winner of the pageant held at the Anderson Center for the Arts theater.

Baker, who reported suffering from a migraine the day of the pageant, said she was "very surprised" and her mouth dropped open when she was named the winner.

"It's very exciting," she said Sunday. "It's really great to be representing the county."

She was first-runner up last year, her first time competing in the Miss Otsego pageant. She said she competes in pageants because they're fun and build confidence and self-esteem.

"It takes a lot to get out there and walk in front of people," she said. "It's really fun in the end, you get to meet people; it's just a really good learning experience."

Among her duties as Miss Otsego County, Baker will appear in pageants and parades, present trophies at the Otsego County Fair, and compete at the state pageant in Norwich in August, said Virginia Pierce White, who has directed the Otsego County Teen-ager pageant for 18 years with her husband, Edson.

"She's a very, very personable girl and she did this with a migraine headache," White said. "She had a very, very good speech."

Baker, who works part time at the National Soccer Hall of Fame, said her speech this year was about breast cancer. She plans to attend Hudson Valley Community College in the fall, she said, and her career goal is to become an occupational therapist.

Miss Otsego is awarded a $500 scholarship and about $1,000 worth of prizes, White said. Prizes are also given to the top 10 finalists and the escorts.

White said 19 girls took part in this year's competition, which consists of private interviews with the judges, a bathing-suit competition and a ball-gown competition. Each of the top 10 finalists delivers a one-minute speech to the audience, and the top five finalists are asked two impromptu questions by the master of ceremonies before a winner is crowned.

White said the girls were one or two points apart and there was a three-way tie for top 10.

"It was a very tight pageant —I'm glad I wasn't judge," she said.

First runner-up was Kelly Distefano of Morris; second runner-up, Totiana Epps of Franklin; third runner-up, Stephanie Wenck of East Meridith; and fourth runner-up, Shanda Banks of Mount Upton, White said.

Epps was also named Miss Photogenic. Mira Jayne Shuler, 3, of Oneonta was Little Miss Otsego.

"She was so good," White said. "She went to sleep before she got crowned but that's all right."

The judges were Mark White from Granby, Mass., a senior productive planner at Stanadyne Corp. in Windsor, Conn.; Nadine Carvin, director of the Sondhi Limthongkul Center for Interdependence at Hartwick College; and Nora Doyle, owner of Rainbow's End Weddings and More, White said.

The tabulator was Michael Price of Oneonta and pageant-owner Richard Gillespie served as master of ceremonies.

Chazzman Felker, Alexandra Faffler and David Barnes sang at the pageant, which also featured dance performances by the cast of the Orpheus Theatre production of "Footloose," tap ensemble Offbeat, Katrina Shuler and Rich Deluca, and Megan Tannenbaum and Amanda Youngs.

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