     Miss Nebraska 2023 and Miss Nebraska’s Teen 2023 will be crowned Saturday night in North Platte.
There are 12 contestants for both titles and one of the 5 Miss hopefuls from a Panhandle pageant must be considered one of the favorites.
        Miss Scottsbluff County Morgan Baird was the preliminary Talent winner Friday night after sharing top honors in Evening Wear Thursday night with Miss Douglas County Alayna Wilson.Â
       Friday night’s Evening Wear winner was Miss Capital City Hannah Johnson while Miss Omaha Francesca Stessman was the first night Talent winner.
      Miss Omaha’s Teen Clara Johnson also heads into the finals as a double preliminary round, taking the Talent competition Thursday and Evening Wear Friday night
       Miss Alliance’s Teen Boston Pettera topped the Teen Evening Wear Category on Thursday while Friday’s Teen Talent winner was Miss Lincoln’s Teen Maggie Wadginski, who was also named winner of the Community Service award.
Miss Douglas County Alayna Wilson was 1st in Community Service for the older women with Miss Great Plains Courtney Pelland 2nd.
Besides Morgan Baird, the other local winners vying to be Miss Nebraska are Miss Alliance Desteny Miller, Miss Old West Balloon Fest Adrianna Casias, Miss Western Nebraska Jadyn Weatherington and Miss Star City Makenzie Gregory.
At the Teen level in addition to Boston Pettera are Miss Scotts Bluff County Teen Rylie Wright, Miss Western Nebraska Teen Elizabeth Foos, Miss Old West Balloon Fest EllaKathryn Anderson, Miss Panhandle Teen Jordan Wagner, and Miss Chadron Teen Arielle Lawrence