Reporter's notebook: Miss Clovis moving on to Miss New Mexico pageant

For the third year in a row, Aleiha Applegarth has been crowned Miss Clovis.

She said the pageant, held March 13 in Las Cruces, was something she “just fell into” after receiving a flier at work. With the encouragement of her co-workers and friends, Applegarth entered her first pageant competition.

“I figured ‘why not?’,” she said as she prepares for Miss New Mexico competition in June in Alamogordo.

She doesn’t claim to be the “typical” beauty pageant participant. “I’m going to try to change the myth that anyone who enters these things has to be tan. I’m beautiful the way I am ... And so what if I win a few scholarships along the way!”

Applegarth, 21, was the only candidate for the Miss Clovis title this year. She attends Eastern New Mexico University in Portales, majoring in theater. She is the daughter of Jeanette and Michael Lovette of Clovis and Allen Applegarth of Anchorage, Alaska.

For information on the New Mexico pageant: http://www.missnewmexico.org

Reporter’s notebook was compiled by CNJ staff writer Leslie Radford. Suggested items may be mailed to Managing Editor Rick White at P.O. Box 1689, Clovis 88102. The e-mail address is: [email protected]