TCU student crowned Miss Texas - again

Kendall Morris, a baton twirler with the TCU band, represented Miss Frisco. (Photo courtesy Fort Worth Star-Telegram)

Fort Worth, Texas

7/18/2011

By Rick Waters, TCU Magazine

A year after finishing fourth, TCU broadcast journalism student Kendall Morris was crowned Miss Texas Friday night on the campus of the University of Texas at Arlington.

Morris, who represented Miss Frisco in the pageant, this time was the contestant left standing in the end, besting two other Horned Frogs in the competition. She won a $10,000 college scholarship, access to an Infiniti for a year, provided by Grubbs Infiniti dealership, and will serve as Miss Texas on Jan. 14 at the Miss America Pageant in Las Vegas.

Morris, a 20-year-old from Ennis, succeeds TCU student Ashley Melnick, who won the competition last year, and will embark on a 12-month speaking tour with as many as 400 appearances.$0 $0Morris is no stranger to the public eye. She was the baton twirler with the TCU Marching Band at the 2011 Rose Bowl Game. She played "New World Symphony" on the piano for the talent portion of the competition.

"It was a wonderful year to be a Horned Frog," Morris told the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

Other Horned Frogs in the competition included Jordan Johannsen, a May 2011 TCU alumna and Melnick's former roommate, who was named third runner-up. Johannsen placed second in the 2010 competition. TCU student Kim Borge represented Texarkana in the competition, but did not advance into the top ten.

Serving on the judging panel was Marshawn Evans '02, a magna cum laude graduate of TCU and a former Miss Texas contestant. She also competed in the Miss America Pageant representing the District of Columbia and finished third runner-up.

On the Web:

Fort Worth Star-Telegram coverage

TCU 360 coverage