NEWS

Ashley Taylor says it’s unheard of.

Taylor, coordinator of student development and the Miss Tech pageant, said six of the 29 women competing in the Miss Louisiana pageant next week are students or recent graduates of Louisiana Tech.

“We have some pretty amazing ladies on our campus,” Taylor said. “We had one (Miss Louisiana from Tech) who won first runner up in the Miss America contest in 1999.”

The six women competing next week are:

• Lacy Thibodeaux, a spring 2009 graduate from Sulphur, who reigns as Miss Crescent City New Orleans.
• Lauren Abshier, a junior political science major from Monroe, who is this year’s Miss Tech.
• Nicole Fairburn, a senior finance major from Abita Springs, who is Miss Slidell.
• Rebecca Price, a sophomore kinesiology major from Bossier City, who serves as Miss Louisiana Stockshow.
• Lexie McKenzie, a junior accounting major from Minden, who holds the title of Miss Minden.
• Jenny Russell, a senior interior design major from Natchitoches, who is Miss Dixie Gem Peach.

All of these ladies competed in the 2009 Miss Tech pageant or the 2008 pageant, Taylor said.

The last Tech student who took home the Miss Louisiana crown was alumna Molly Causey, who competed for Miss America in 2006.

Preliminaries for the Miss Louisiana pageant, which takes place in Monroe, will be June 18-19, and the pageant will be on June 20.

Written by Judith Roberts