A pair of Center Area High School graduates will be a little less stuck for college cash after winning a national scholarship competition, besting at least two other couples whose supporters didn't adhere to contest rules.

Sharon Dranko and Joshua Humm learned yesterday that their eye-popping fuschia hoop-skirted gown and zebra-striped tuxedo fashioned from duct tape had won the "Stuck at Prom" contest sponsored by tape manufacturer Henkel Corp.

Ms. Dranko and Mr. Humm, both 18 and of Center, defeated more than 160 couples from 44 states and four Canadian provinces to each win $3,000 in college funds. Their high school also will receive $3,000 for holding the prom where the couple debuted their ensemble in all its gooey splendor.

"I'm just glad everything worked out and it turned out to be an honest competition," Ms. Dranko said. After receiving a telephone call alerting her to her first-place win in Henkel's "Stuck at Prom" contest, she spent the day celebrating at Kennywood, albeit in slightly less flamboyant garb.

"Just shorts and a T-shirt,'' she said, giggling. "No duct tape. It's way too hot out here for that."

For the eighth year, Henkel's "Stuck at Prom" contest challenged students to create prom attire using the Dusseldorf, Germany-based company's Duck brand tape. Winners were to have been named July 1, but the company last week delayed its announcement while it investigated irregularities pointing to skewed online voting results.

Contest rules allowed voters to cast one vote daily through the "Stuck at Prom" Web site, beginning June 13, and to include e-mail addresses with votes. When voting closed June 29, Ms. Dranko and Mr. Humm appeared to be in second place with more than 20,000 votes, lagging behind a couple with more than 100,000 votes. Those entrants were not identified by the company.

But those totals generated suspicion because they were much higher than in previous years, company spokeswoman Lisa Schwan said. Last year's competition generated slightly more than 50,000 total votes, and a "high influx" this year came during the final weekend of voting, she said.

An investigation showed about 60,000 votes cast this year were valid, but many others were cast by people who violated contest rules by including fake e-mail addresses, Ms. Schwan said. She wasn't sure how many invalid votes included nonexistent e-mail addresses, but said they were cast for at least two other couples.

"We're not sure exactly how it was orchestrated," she said. "I'm glad we had this process in place to make sure our three winning couples definitely had the highest totals in place."

Entries were judged on workmanship, originality, use of colors -- Duck offers 20 hues and patterns -- accessories and quantity of tape used. Ms. Dranko unspooled pink, black, aqua and white tape to assemble the outfits, 134 rolls for her gown alone, over three months.

Winners also receive a year's supply of duct tape, noted Ms. Dranko, who, like Mr. Hamm, plans to attend Kent State University in Ohio. She had no idea yesterday just how much tape that would involve, but Ms. Schwan said it would be 24 rolls, probably in assorted colors.

"I'm just glad everything worked out and it turned out to be an honest competition," Ms. Dranko said. "I guess I'll just call them when I need [the tape]. I'm not making another dress anytime soon."