BENTON TOWNSHIP — Alyssa Wainwright never thought she would walk away from Monday’s 2015 Miss Blossomtime Pageant with a crown.

After all, the odds were stacked against the Dowagiac teen.

As the Miss Spirit representative, Wainwright was ineligible to win the pageant or any of the runner-up positions.

The only crown available to her was Miss Congeniality — an award chosen by the vote of the 23 community queens in the pageant.

When the time came to announce the recipient of Miss Congeniality, last year’s winner let the tension build. Ellie Hurd walked slowly behind all 23 contestants, even pausing to act like she was about to place the crown on someone’s head, before moving on.

She eventually stopped behind Wainwright. This time it was for real.

Wainwright nearly fell to her knees in surprise as she felt the crown touch her hair.

“I came in here just having fun and trying to cheer the girls on… I would never have guessed I would have come out with a crown,” Wainwright said.

Being named Miss Congeniality means Wainwright joins 2015 Miss Blossomtime Kalabrya Gondrezick, of Benton Harbor; first-runner up Miss Eau Claire/Sodus Taylor Dustin; and second runner up Miss Buchanan Marissa Claxton on the 2015 Miss Blossomtime Court.

She receives $1,400 in scholarships, gift certificates, jewelry, make-up and more. She will join the 2015 Blossomtime Court in making appearances and doing community service work throughout southwest Michigan until next year’s pageant.

“It is amazing honestly because Blossomtime is such a big deal and it is an honor to be part of it,” Wainwright said. “It is such a good, long-lasting program and I can’t believe it will go down in history that I’m a part of it.”

Because Dowagiac is not affiliated with Blossomtime, Wainwright entered the Miss Heart Pageant, which is open to girls in communities that do not host a Blossomtime-affiliated pageant.

Wainwright finished runner-up at Miss Heart, but still had a chance to qualify for the Miss Blossomtime Pageant by competing in the Miss Spirit Pageant, which is open to all first-runner ups of community pageants. Wainwright won Miss Spirit in January, gaining entry into Monday’s pageant at the Lake Michigan College Mendel Center.

She said her positive attitude may have helped her win Miss Congeniality.

“I feel like life is so short and if you are blessed to be healthy and happy you just need to live everyday to the fullest,” she said. “I am just happy at anything and everything. That is just who I am. I am just happy with everything that I do.”