Former Duke Cheerleader Lauren Hughs in Miss North Carolina Pageant

The Miss North Carolina USA and Miss North Carolina Teen USA Pageant will be held at High Point Theatre tonight and Saturday and will feature former Duke cheerleader Lauren Hughs and of course, the Blue Devil Nation wishes her the best of luck!  Hughs recently graduated from Duke and is originally from Winston Salem, North Carolina.

"I feel so lucky to have been able to represent Duke University Athletics as a cheerleader for the last three years, and am so appreciative of the support of my Duke family as I embark on this exciting new opportunity to compete in the miss North Carolina pageant to represent our state," said Hughs.

Brittany York and Vanessa McClelland will pass their crowns to the next winner. Judges in the contest are from E! Entertainment, CBS and Walt Disney Pictures. Fifty contestants will compete for the crown and the new title holder will immediately begin their duties with an appearance at the North Carolina Special Olympics.

The judges will cast their votes in weighted categories which include evening gown and swimsuit competitions and of course an interview. It all starts tonight with the preliminaries at 8 and the pageant starts Saturday at 7:30 p.m

Again, good luck to Lauren.