Though Music junior Jenny Powers didn’t come home with the Miss America crown Saturday, her sorority sisters dressed in tiaras anyway.

Powers, who in June won the Miss Illinois crown, competed this weekend for the national title in Atlantic City, N.J.

Meanwhile, her Delta Delta Delta friends gathered in front of the TV in their house to cheer for her. While they said they were disappointed Powers didn’t make the top 10, the pageant still made for good television.

“When they were counting down the top 10, every time a name started out with a ‘J,’ we were like, ‘It’s Jenny,'” said Weinberg sophomore Brynn Wyler, who wore a fake tiara. “After we found out she didn’t make it, half the people in the room got frustrated and left.”

Miss Hawaii, Angela Perez Baraquio of Honolulu, took home the crown.

Powers followed in two former Northwestern students’ footsteps. Kate Shindle, Speech ’99, won the crown in 1998, and Music senior Jade Smalls finished first runner-up in last year’s pageant. They also held the Miss Illinois title.

Powers’ path to the Miss America Pageant began Spring Quarter 2000, when she won the Miss Northern Illinois pageant.

In June, Powers won the Miss Illinois contest on a platform of the arts in education. She has been taking this year off from school to prepare for the Miss America competition and to fulfill her duties in representing Illinois.

She began competing in preliminary competitions for Miss America on Tuesday and won the preliminary talent competition and a $4,000 scholarship Wednesday night by singing “Quando M’en Vo” from the opera “La Boheme.”

“I chose (the song) because of the character; her name is Musetta and she has quite an attitude,” Powers told pageant officials after the competition.

By the time the main event was about to start, Powers’ friends were anxious to see her compete.

“Every time she came on the screen, the whole room screamed,” Weinberg sophomore Liza Stone-Banks said.

Though Powers didn’t win, her friends were still proud of her.