Wenatchee High School senior Cora Van Lith was crowned Miss East Cascades at a pageant on March 11 at the Numerica PAC. She will move on to the Miss Washington pageant on July 1.

In addition to her title, Van Lith won $1000 in scholarship money. She competed against eight other girls in events such as an interview, a bathing suit portion, and a talent portion in which Van Lith performed a contemporary dance. This was Van Lith’s first pageant, and she joined for fun after dancing competitively for several years.

“[The pageant] has taught me how to be more confident, and how to speak better when answering both personal and political questions. It’s helped me to stay up to date on current events and be a better member of the community,” Van Lith said. “There are four other girls that go [to WHS] that did the pageant. I love them and I am so proud of them and everyone that did the pageant.”