ROANOKE RAPIDS – Beauty is far more than simply good looks.

In front of a packed house within the Roanoke Rapids High School auditorium here Saturday night, 24 young ladies from across the local region saw the fruits of their year-long labor come to an end during the annual Roanoke Valley Junior Miss Scholarship Program.

This group of talent-rich, academically gifted, gracefully poised and extremely fit n and, oh, by the way, very beautiful n high school seniors joined in a friendly effort to land themselves college scholarship money.

Among the record-setting field of 24 were four young ladies hailing from the Roanoke-Chowan area. Two n Allyson Cashwell and Brooks Ann Williford – are seniors at Northeast Academy. Donyetta Barnes of Northampton County High School-East and Leslie Ann Revelle of Ridgecroft School rounded out the local contingent.

While all the girls were winners, Revelle and Williford took it one step further. Revelle was judged in the top five in both the self-expression and interview categories. She collected $200 in the process. Williford was awarded $100 in scholarship money for her top-five finish in the scholastics judging.

The big winner was Cierra Piggott, a senior at Roanoke Rapids High School. She dazzled the judges and the crowd throughout the event, scoring top-five finishes in each of the five categories (fitness, self-expression, talent, scholastics and interview) en route to earning the 2007 Roanoke Valley Junior Miss title. All totaled, Piggott claimed $2,500 in scholarship money. She will now represent the area in the North Carolina Junior Miss program set for later this year in Greensboro.

The first runner-up was Casey Green while Courtney Aman earned second runner-up recognition. Both are seniors at Roanoke Rapids High School. Cory Ann Dixon, also of Roanoke Rapids High, captured the Spirit Award.

The event also featured several performances by Chelsea Davis, the 2006 Roanoke Valley Junior Miss. Davis graduated this year from Northeast Academy and is now attending Meredith College in Raleigh.

Other Junior Miss winners from across the state also joined in on Saturday’s Roanoke Valley program activities, including Molly Bales of Rocky Mount, the reigning North Carolina Junior Miss.