On her fourth attempt at the crown, Brookhaven’s Laura Lee Lewis was named Miss Mississippi at the 82nd scholarship pageant held in Vicksburg.

Lewis, 23, will receive a $10,000 scholarship and will represent the state in the Miss America pageant Sept. 11 in Atlantic City.

A graduate of Brookhaven High School and Mississippi State University, Lewis is the daughter of Mark and Lorin Lewis of Madison.

Lewis represented Miss Dixie in the pageant, which began Wednesday and ended Saturday night with the presentation of the crown by the 2015 Miss Mississippi Hannah Roberts.

“We are very excited for this opportunity,” Lewis’ mother told The Daily Leader. “God has blessed Laura Lee so much and we are thrilled to watch her journey as Miss Mississippi and to Miss America. We are so thankful for all the support and love from Brookhaven.”

Lewis was one of three contestants who won talent preliminaries leading up to the finals Saturday. She won a $500 scholarship with her vocal arrangement of Barbara Streisand’s “A Piece of Sky.”

 

She was announced as one of 10 finalists just 15 minutes into the program, which was aired on WLBT and live streamed on the Miss Mississippi website.

On Saturday, she was also named the overall evening gown winner, Lorin Lewis said.

After being named one of the top five finalists, she answered her on-stage question about punishment for hackers in the Ashley Madison scandal.

Lewis’s platform is Mentoring Matters.

She was crowned Miss Mississippi’s Outstanding Teen in 2009. She was named second runner-up to Miss Mississippi in 2013, first runner-up in 2014 and second runner-up again in 2015.

She studied elementary education with an emphasis in math and science at MSU and plans to be a teacher.

Before the competition, Lewis said that if she won, “I want to inspire people to be of service to others. Becoming Miss Mississippi will provide me with greater access and opportunity to leave a positive impact on Mississippi.”

Lewis’ princesses for the pageant are twins Sophie and Lilly Cupit, the daughters of Malcolm and Marlene Cupit, and Eleanor Bishop, the daughter of Steve and Melanie Bishop, all of Brookhaven.

Her evening gown and talent gown were designed by Sherri Hill. Other pieces of her pageant wardrobe came from several Brookhaven boutiques — Persimmons, Castles and Expectations 2.