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2017 Miss Mississippi Anne Elizabeth Buys performs during the opening number of the second night of preliminary competition in the 2018 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

Miss Hinds Community College Charity Lockridge performs her talent during the second night of preliminary competition in the 2018 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

Miss Amory Molly May performs her talent during the second night of preliminary competition in the 2018 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

Miss North Central Mississippi Brooke Bullock competes in Swimwear during the first second of preliminary competition in the 2018 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

Miss University Charley Ann Nix competes in Swimwear during the second night of preliminary competition in the 2018 Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

Miss North Central Mississippi Brooke Bullock, left, Miss University Charley Ann Nix, Miss Hinds Community College Charity Lockridge and Miss Amory Molly May celebrate after being named winners in the second preliminary night of the Miss Mississippi Pageant at the Vicksburg Convention Center Thursday. Bullock and Nix tied in the Swimwear competition and Lockridge and May tied in the Talent Competition (Courtland Wells/The Vicksburg Post)

It was a tie for both the talent and swimwear phases of the Miss Mississippi Pageant in the second night of preliminary competitions.

Miss University Charlie Ann Nix and Miss North Central Mississippi Brooke Bullock were the swimwear preliminary winners and Miss Hinds Community College Charity Lockridge and Miss Amory Molly May tied for Talent.

“I am overwhelmed with joy and all the glory goes to God,” Lockridge, who is a first year competitor in the Miss Mississippi Pageant, said. “He gave me this voice and he gave me this talent and without Him I would not be able to do this.”

Lockridge sang Sandi Patty’s “Via Dolorosa” and credited her Bowmar Avenue Elementary School music teacher Joanne Ryan for getting her involved with music.

“She always put me up front to lead a song whenever we had a program,” Lockridge said.

May, who also won the preliminary talent competition in last year’s pageant, sang

Jennifer Holliday’s version of “I am Changing” from the Broadway musical, “Dream Girls.”

“I am so happy. I wish I had a bigger word or better adjective,” May said, after being asked what she was feeling when named one of the two talent preliminary winners.

“I haven’t sung this song since I was 17 years old. It is the song I won preliminary talent with at the Miss America’s Outstanding Teen Pageant, so I figured why not blow the dust off and see what happens and I am very, very pleased.”

Both Nix and Bullock are veteran Miss Mississippi Pageant contestants, though neither had ever won a swimwear preliminary.

“This is something I have always dreamed of in the back of my head, but I really never thought I was capable of doing it,” Bullock said. “For the past year, I made it my goal to not only return the Vicksburg stage, but come back healthier and more capable in the division, because I knew this was something I needed to work on.”

Nix said she too had worked hard in preparing for the swimwear phase of the competition.

“I ate really healthy, lots of chicken and vegetables and no soft drinks in the year 2018. And that has been very tough for me because I am a Dr. Pepper girl,” she said.

Nix said she goes to the gym daily, but by having a thinner build, the difference for her has been weight training.

“I have had to gradually work my way up and now I can do 90 pounds in a leg press, and although that may not seem like much, it was a lot for me.”

The final preliminary competition will be held tonight at the Vicksburg Convention Center .

About Terri Cowart Frazier

Terri Frazier was born in Cleveland. Shortly afterward, the family moved to Vicksburg. She is a part-time reporter at The Vicksburg Post and is the editor of the Vicksburg Living Magazine, which has been awarded First Place by the Mississippi Press Association. She has also been the recipient of a First Place award in the MPA’s Better Newspaper Contest’s editorial division for the “Best Feature Story.”

Terri graduated from Warren Central High School and Mississippi State University where she received a bachelor’s degree in communications with an emphasis in public relations.

Prior to coming to work at The Post a little more than 10 years ago, she did some freelancing at the Jackson Free Press. But for most of her life, she enjoyed being a full-time stay at home mom.

Terri is a member of the Crawford Street United Methodist Church. She is a lifetime member of the Vicksburg Junior Auxiliary and is a past member of the Sampler Antique Club and Town and Country Garden Club. She is married to Dr. Walter Frazier.

“From staying informed with local governmental issues to hearing the stories of its people, a hometown newspaper is vital to a community. I have felt privileged to be part of a dedicated team at The Post throughout my tenure and hope that with theirs and with local support, I will be able to continue to grow and hone in on my skills as I help share the stories in Vicksburg. When asked what I like most about my job, my answer is always ‘the people.’

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