FAIRBANKS, Alaska – Fairbanks has been well represented in pageants this year as the newly crowned Miss Alaska USA 2020 and Miss Alaska Teen USA 2020 both hail from the city, officials said.

Hannah Carlile accepted the Miss Alaska USA crown and Jadyn Fraser was awarded the Miss Alaska Teen USA crown Nov. 2, The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner reported Monday.

The pageant in Anchorage was a preliminary event to the Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants, officials said.

Carlile is a graduate student at Vanderbilt University pursuing a master’s degree in international education policy and management. She serves as an education research consultant in partnership with Columbia Law School’s Center for Public Research and Leadership.

Carlile also performs research and evaluation for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation education initiative helping students of colour reach academic goals. She hopes to promote international education and cultural awareness on the state and national level.

Fraser is a graduate of West Valley High School who hopes to advocate for people with depression, anxiety and other diseases. The 18-year-old suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, an autoimmune disease that causes the body’s immune system to attack joints and can lead to painful swelling.

“I live with the consequences of my body, and with that I’ve had to learn to be confidently beautiful even when I can’t be comfortably beautiful,” Fraser wrote on social media.

Neither winner could be reached for comment.

The Miss Universe and Miss USA pageants began in 1954 in Long Beach, California. Miss Teen USA debuted in 1983 in Lakeland, Florida, officials said.

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Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, http://www.newsminer.com