Miss Moraine State preps for Miss Pennsylvania pageant
While the new Miss Moraine State is looking forward to competing at the Miss Pennsylvania competition in June, she is just as excitedly anticipating the activities the title brings along with it, including public appearances and community service.
Camryn Sacco, who is from Marion Center, Indiana County, was crowned Miss Moraine State at the Miss Butler County pageant in November, the second Miss America-related title she has earned.
She is a full-time undergraduate student at the University of Pittsburgh, majoring in bioengineering in the Swanson School of Engineering and minoring in industrial engineering. She also holds three on-campus jobs at the university as a Pitt Pathfinder, a group fitness instructor and an engineering peer mentor.
Sacco said that among her goals as Miss Moraine State are to continue her education at Pitt, while also representing the pageant.
“The scholarships I am earning through the Miss America Opportunity are going directly to my academic pursuits,” Sacco said. “My priority is to successfully complete my undergraduate studies and earn my B.S. in bioengineering. From there, I want to continue my education and earn a Master of Business Administration and/or a Master of Prosthetics and Orthotics.”
Judy Hughes, co-executive director of the Miss Butler County organization, said Sacco and the other representatives of Butler County are a bright group.
“The girls we have this year are really stupendous because they have such backgrounds,” she said. “These girls are extremely beautiful, but they are extremely bright.”
Although she said she hadn’t planned to compete in pageants when she was in high school, Sacco got interested in the field when she bought a prom dress during her junior year.
She also won the title of Miss Freedom Forge 2025, in February. Sacco then walked away from last year’s Miss Pennsylvania Scholarship Competition in June as a top 11 semifinalist.
Just a few months later, she won Miss Moraine State 2026 at the Miss Butler County Scholarship Competition in November. Hughes said the Miss Moraine State title is an open competition, meaning there is no designated area where a contestant has to live to enter. The pageant takes place alongside the Miss Butler County pageant, as well as each pageant’s junior counterparts.
“Moraine State was open, so anybody could come from any part of the state and compete and possibly win that title,” Hughes said.
According to Sacco, the opportunity to get more involved in community initiatives as a pageant representative helped draw her toward competing. She said she wants to use her title as a way to engage more people.
“Being a certified CPR instructor and a certified group fitness instructor allows me to do more than just advocate, but to also engage individuals in being a part of the change,” Sacco said. “One of my main goals is to organize and train CPR training classes to local businesses and organizations.
“It provides a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and serve the community.”
The phases of a pageant competition include a 10 minute private interview, onstage questions and fitness, talent and evening gown competitions.
Hughes said much of the question and interview portions of the pageants relate to a contestant’s community service initiative which is a unique interest each person promotes to improve their communities.
Sacco’s initiative is Heart2Heart, which she said is a two-pronged approach of developing healthier, stronger and better prepared communities to prevent cardiovascular disease. Working on the initiative is not only important to Sacco. She said promoting it as a titleholder is an opportunity to promote it to other people.
“It provides a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and serve the community,” Sacco said.
The Miss Pennsylvania competition will take place in the summer. The winner of that competition can go on to compete in the Miss America competition, which begins in December.
Sacco said she is “actively preparing for all phases of competition” for the Miss Pennsylvania opportunity. In the meantime, she’s making some public appearances.
“You want to get involved in the community in any way possible, whether it is through community service, public appearances,” Sacco said. “I have booked and organized some public appearances myself, but I have also done some that have been organized by my directors and the Miss Butler County Scholarship Organization.”
Hughes pointed out that even though the competition takes place on a larger scale, most of those involved in local competitions apply to the state competition and even the Miss American pageant. She said everyone planning to go on to compete at the state event is likely preparing in similar ways.
“The scoring might change a little, but other than that, it’s the same thing,” Hughes said. “They’ll certainly work on their community service and just improve themselves.”
Sacco will be at the America250PA kickoff in Butler County, taking place Sunday, Jan. 25, at the Butler County Courthouse. She said the opportunity was made possible by the Butler County commissioners.
She added she has some other plans for appearances in the lead up to the Miss Pennsylvania competition.
However, her college career is still a priority and Sacco said she wants to make sure she has time for school and her pageant life.
“The priority has and always will be on my education and my career,” Sacco said. “The goal is to be Miss Pennsylvania, have the opportunity to serve my home state and represent the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on the Miss America stage.”
