Muskogee High School Homecoming Queen Skyler Cannon wore a sparkling, strapless white gown as Allen Starks escorted her across the gym floor at Thursday morning’s coronation. He gave her a quick kiss after putting a crown on her head.

Following the event, she set her sights to tonight’s Homecoming game and ceremony.

“My mom and my stepdad will be escorting me,” Cannon said, in the quiet of a dressing room after the assembly.

The MHS senior had just been crowned 2008 Football Homecoming queen in a bright ceremony when a fight broke out in the Ron C. Milam Gymnasium, dampening the event.

Cannon said she already was “extremely nervous” before the pep assembly.

“I was shaking and did not know what to expect,” she said.

Cannon said she had spent most of the morning getting ready.

“I left around 7:30 a.m. to get my hair touched up, and we finished around 8:30, so I sat around anticipating the event,” she said, adding that she started looking for her homecoming gown last Sunday.

The coronation was one of the first all-school events to be held in the newly renovated gymnasium. Students seemed pleased with the changes.

“It’s more colorful, more spacey and more up to date,” said senior Megan Paris.

Classmate Casey Weston said the gym “looks a lot nicer.”

“It matches more,” she said.

During the ceremony, escorts gave attendants white bouquets before walking them across the gym floor.

MHS science teacher and student council sponsor Michele Hofschulte had to carry the 1-year-old flower girl, McKayla Nicole Warren, across part of the floor. The daughter of ShaNeice Starks and Abraham Warren, McKayla often paused and looked around during the ceremony.

The daughter of Carla and Wayne Neale, Cannon is a member of the Oklahoma Honor Society. She plans to attend the University of Oklahoma and graduate as a pharmacist.