Opelika native wins Miss New York competition

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Opelika-Auburn News
By: CHRIS ANTHONY

Nearly 1,000 miles separate Opelika from New York City, but the two cities will share a common bond when Mallory Hagan walks the stage at the 2013 Miss America Pageant.

Hagan, a 2007 Opelika High School graduate, won the title of Miss New York 2012 over the weekend, staking her claim in the next Miss America competition.

“It is truly indescribable,” Hagan said in a phone interview Tuesday. “It’s something that I have wanted to do since I was a little girl. I honestly cannot really believe it’s happening in my life right now.”

As a teenager, Hagan frequently competed in Miss Alabama’s Outstanding Teen Pageant.

Hagan, 23, qualified for the Miss New York Pageant after winning the Miss New York City crown in March. This year’s competition marked her third consecutive appearance in the Miss New York Pageant.

Hagan attended Auburn University for a year before moving to New York in the fall of 2008. Now living in Brooklyn, Hagan is attending the Fashion Institute of Technology, where she has been able to put scholarships from the Miss New York organization to good use.

“I’m completely debt-free because of the scholarship money that I received the past few years there,” she said.

Hagan’s on-stage talent during the Miss New York competition was a tap dance to James Brown’s “Get Up Offa That Thing.” Hagan said she plans to tap dance during the Miss America Pageant and might even dance to the same song.

Hagan, whose platform is child sexual abuse awareness and prevention, said she is working closely with an organization called the Child Abuse Prevention Program.

As Miss New York, Hagan said she has some big shoes to fill, but she’s confident she can make a splash at the Miss America competition.

“My goal is to be Miss America,” she said. “The whole point of this is to go there and try your best and to look forward to getting that job for the year. And New York has done pretty well in the past couple of years of the Miss America Pageant.”

Miss America 2013 will be held Jan. 12 at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas, said Sharon Pearce, a spokesperson for the Miss America competition. The pageant will be aired live on ABC.