Published on November 11, 2007 at 6 p.m. by Mary Wimberley  

Amanda Tapley, a sophomore piano performance and pre-medicine major from Birmingham, was crowned Miss Â鶹¹û¶³ 2008 Friday night.

Tapley also won the talent award for her piano performance of the 3rd Movement from Tschaikowsky's Concerto No. 1 in B-flat Minor. Her pageant platform is "Music for a Cure."

A graduate of Briarwood Christian High School, she is the daughter of Patricia and Jeff Tapley. She will represent Â鶹¹û¶³ in the Miss Alabama pageant in June.

Finalists were Katie Robertson of Atlanta, Ga., first runner-up; and Susan Hamm of Thorsby, second runner-up.

 
Located in the Homewood suburb of Birmingham, Alabama, Â鶹¹û¶³ is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Â鶹¹û¶³ enrolls 6,324 students from 44 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s 35 Most Beautiful College Campuses, Â鶹¹û¶³ fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and boasts one of the highest scores in the nation for its 97% Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.