Miss Kentucky makes top 12 in Miss America pageant

The girl with the green fiddle came up a little short in her quest for the crown: Miss Kentucky Ramsey Carpenter was among the top 12 contestants in Sunday night's Miss America pageant, but did not advance any further.

The winner was Miss New York Kira Kazantsev in an unprecedented three-peat for that state.

Playing the fiddle, Carpenter, 23, wowed the judges earlier in the week. She won a preliminary talent competition with a medley of Sally Goodin and Orange Blossom Special to receive a $2,000 scholarship.

She made it through the swimsuit and evening gown competition but was eliminated without getting a chance to play for a national audience on Sunday.

From Hartford, in Ohio County, Carpenter has a job as a special education teacher. But that is on hold while she serves as Miss Kentucky and continues to discuss her platform. Carpenter, who has multiple sclerosis, has been speaking about the disease, which affects the nervous system and can result in numbness, tingling, pain, and difficulty walking, among other symptoms.

Before she became Miss Kentucky, Carpenter worked as a national spokeswoman for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. She will speak at a national gathering of neurologists in Boston for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society after the pageant.

This story was originally published September 14, 2014 at 11:15 PM with the headline "Miss Kentucky makes top 12 in Miss America pageant."