Goldsboro woman crowned Miss North Carolina 2014

She edged out first runner-up Miss Cabarrus County, McKenzie Faggart, and plans to compete in the Miss America pageant this September in Atlantic City, N.J.

"I could not believe it. I couldn’t stop shaking, and I was just so thankful, so thankful. I still am," Stovall said during an interview on WRAL-TV's morning news Sunday. "It’s slowly sinking in. The longer I go with this crown sitting on my head this morning, the more it sinks in. I’m so excited."

Stovall also won the overall talent award, which she shared with Miss Central Carolina Victoria Huggins. Stovall gave an operatic vocal performance of "Je Veux Vivre" from Gounod’s opera, Romeo and Juliet. Her platform is inspirational art, which she plans to use to inspire students to explore and discover their talents in the arts.

"I’m extremely arts driven and very passionate about the arts. I’m a music major, and singing has always been something that is just who I am to my core," she said. "That’s something I want to share with students across the entire state and across the entire nation."

Stovall is a junior majoring in vocal performance at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. She plans to put her education on hold while she prepares to compete for the Miss America title.

"Well, I’ve got to start preparation immediately because the Miss America pageant is in September. It’s just a couple days before my birthday, actually," she said. "I’ve got to start training on getting ready for swimsuit, maintaining a healthy physique and just a healthy lifestyle, working on my interview skills, modeling, picking out wardrobe, all kinds of things. I’m so excited."

Stovall lives in Goldsboro and is the daughter of Dan and Patti Stovall. She competed in her first pageant at age 16 and won the talent award but did not place among the top competitors, she said.

"I tried again my senior year and got second runner up, and then after that, I started doing Miss America prelims," she said. "I competed (in the Miss North Carolina pageant) last year and made it into the top 10 and decided I understood the tools that were needed to be Miss North Carolina the second time around. And that’s why I decided to come back."

Rounding out the top five competitors in the 2014 Miss North Carolina pageant were:

The rest of the top eleven competitors were Miss Goldsboro, Emily Tucker; Miss Chapel Hill, Cheslie Kryst; Miss Mecklenburg County, Tynia Brandon; Miss Moore County, Paige Adkins; Miss Winston-Salem, Brieanna Hester; and Miss Greater Carolina, Comfort Johnson.

As part of the broadcast partnership with Time Warner Cable, viewers were allowed to cast votes for an 11th finalist, increasing the normal final pool of hopefuls by one contestant. Stovall was the top viewer choice out of the more than 250,000 votes submitted.

Other awards handed out Saturday night included: