Displaying musical talents, describing career aspirations and modelling swimwear, four Harvard students competed in the Miss Greater Boston pageant last Sunday.

"There wasn't any backstabbing or a competitive atmosphere," said J. Letisha Seabrook, a graduate student at the school of Education and the eventual winner. "We were all groomed and prepared as if we would win."

The Miss Greater Boston/Miss Greater East Boston Scholarship Pageant, held at Winthrop Junior High School, is a preliminary round in the Miss Massachusetts competition.

The eight competitors also included Graduate School of Education student Karen Y. Jackson and Lowell House blockmates Marcia M. Turner '97 and Clarissa J. Ngo '97. Turner was the second runner-up in the competition.

Seabrook will continue on with Miss Greater East Boston Leslie Matta to the statewide pageant on June 16 and 17. As Miss Greater Boston, Seabrook said she will win a scholarship--neither she nor her coach knew the exact amount--and will make promotional appearances in and around the city.

"I thought that maybe I had a chance of placing," Seabrook said in an interview yesterday. "I had no clue that I had any chance of winning one of the titles."

Betty A. Bennett, a member of the pageant committee and one of Seabrook's coaches for the state competition, spoke optimistically of Seabrook's chances in the Miss Massachusetts pageant.

"Her appearance is striking. Her communication skills are excellent, and she is very articulate," Bennett said.

The contestants in the pageant are judged on four components: an interview conducted before the pageant, and the talent, swimwear and eveningwear competitions.

For the talent competition, Seabrook sang the popular song "Dream in Color" by Regina Belle. She has sung semi-professionally and with the GSE Gospel Ensemble.

Seabrook, raised in Columbia, South Carolina, graduated in 1994 from WakeForest University in Winston-Salem, North Carolinawith a degree in history.

After receiving her Master's degree ineducation this June, she said she hopes to teachfor two years and then pursue a Ph.D. in AmericanHistory