Jim Fair
Taylor Ross, left, and Lanie Hudson will represent Greer in the 2013 Miss South Carolina pageant in July. Hudson was crowned Miss Greater Greer and Ross Miss Greater Greer Teen.
Jim Fair
Sydney Sill, 2012 Miss South Carolina Teen, bids farewell as last year's Miss Greater Greer Teen.
Jim Fair
Lauren Cabiniss, 2012 Miss Greater Greer, will compete in the Miss South Carolina pageant representing Hilton Head Island this year. Julie Harrison Wofford, right, is Miss Hilton Head Island Teen.
Lanie Hudson was crowned 2013 Miss Greater Greer and Taylor Ross the Miss Greater Greer Teen tonight at Greer High School.
Hudson and Ross will compete in the 2013 Miss South Carolina pageant in July at Township Auditorium in Columbia.
Sydney Sill, 2012 Miss South Carolina Teen, bid farewell as Miss Greater Greer Teen. Lauren Cabiniss, last year’s Miss Greater Greer, relinquished her title to compete in a rival Miss USA pageant. She was recognized as last year’s queen and will compete in this year’s Miss South Carolina pageant representing Hilton Head Island.
Hudson is a senior Communications Studies major at Clemson University. Her father (Alex) and grandfather, Bill, played football at Clemson.
“I was shocked and shaking when I heard my name called,” Lanie Hudson said. “I’m very excited to represent Greer.”
Hudson was 2008 Miss Spartanburg Teen and first runnerup in the Miss South Carolina Teen pageant. She wanted to compete last year but contracted mononucleosis. “I couldn’t dance the week before the pageant because my muscles were so weak.”
Hudson also won the talent competition with her high-energy dance to “Get Up and Dance”.
Angie Culpepper was first runnerup and Verhonda Crawford, winner of the swimsuit preliminary, was second runnerup.
Ross won her pageant title this month. She was crowned Miss Greer High School Feb. 9.
“I am super blessed and very excited,” Taylor said. She has been competing in pageants since the sixth grade.
Taylor’s talent was a monologue on “Pageant Tips” she wrote with her mother and grandmother’s help. She won the evening gown preliminary.
Shayln Simmons was first runnerup in the Teen competition and won the talent preliminary with a tap dance to Michael Jackson’s “Working Day and Night”. Claire Cumbo was second runnerup.
• Royal birthdays: Sydney Sill celebrated her birthday today to a chorus of “Happy Birthday” from the audience. Ross celebrated her birthday on Friday. Hudson said her birthday is still a month away (March 25).
• Show stoppers: The judges arrived 30 minutes late holding up the evening’s pageant from its scheduled 7 p.m. start.
Competitors and their talent:
Miss Greater Greer
2013 Miss, Lanie Hudson, upbeat dance to “Get Up and Dance”
1st runnerup, Angie Culpepper, sang “A Broken Wing” by Martina McBride
2nd runnerup, Verhonda Crawford, theatrical presentation to Shakespeare’s Sonnet No. 3
Kristen Dubnik, played flute to George Frideric Handel’s flute sonata in G
Anna Catherine English, theatrical dance to “The First Time I Ever Saw Your Face” by Roberta Flack
Teen Miss Greater Greer
2013 Teen, Taylor Ross, self-written monologue, “Pageant Tips”
1st runnerup, Shaylyn Simmons, tap dance to Michael Jackson’s “Working Day and Night”
2nd runnerup, Claire Cumbo, Irish step dance to “Celtic Rhythm”
Madison Bates, sang “Popular” from the play “Wicked”
Railey Lollie, Theatrical dance to “Good Girl”
Alicia Smith, sang “Somewhere Over the Rainbow”
Ellie Stacy, sang “To Make You Feel My Love” by Adele
Regan Young, sang “Hallelujah” written by Leonard Cohen