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Morgan Byrd Crowned Miss MC 2008


Singing "All that Jazz" from the musical Chicago, Morgan Byrd left stage the winner at the 2008 Miss Mississippi College Scholarship Pageant. Next stop for the MC freshman: the Miss Mississippi competition in June.

Byrd, 19, emerged as the top choice of the panel of judges at the two-hour pageant at Swor Auditorium Tuesday evening. There were a half-dozen students competing for the title. A Flowood resident and MC nursing major, she's a graduate of 2007 Northwest Rankin High.

Winning the title gives Byrd a $500 scholarship from MC's Student Government Association. She was sponsored by the Kissimee Social Tribe on the Clinton campus.

Byrd, who sports a 3.69 grade point average, will hit the books through May. Then, it's time to focus on preparing for the Miss Mississippi preliminary competition in Vicksburg June 23-26 and the pageant night on June 28. Her sights are to win Miss Mississippi "and hopefully Miss America - you never know," she said Wednesday.

Family members and friends cheered on all six contestants at the show that showcased sounds of the big band era of the 1940s at the 800-seat auditorium in Nelson Hall. Byrd succeeds 2007 Miss MC Kayla Fisher, 19, a sophomore from Brookhaven.

Byrd, who likes to sing, read and travel in her spare time, finished as the runner-up in the Miss Rankin County pageant last year.

Other Miss MC contestants were: Arian Thompson, 21, of Clinton; Kristina Barton, 20, of Pascagoula; Tasha Jones, 19, of Flowood; Amy Simpson, 21, of Kosciusko; and Jessica Daves, 20, of Black Hawk.


PHOTO: Crowned as Miss MC 2008 is Morgan Byrd of Flowood. Presenting her with the crown is 2007 Miss MC Kayla Fisher.