Miss New Mexico USA winner, first runner-up are from Las Cruces

Christa Schafer was the winner and Ayana Pai, the runner-up in the Miss New Mexico USA competition held this summer at Hotel Encanto. Both are from Las Cruces.

Schafer, Miss Las Cruces 2021, is the daughter of Howard and Trina Schafer. Pai, Miss Doña Ana 2021, is the daughter of Prasanna and Dr. Sangeeth Shanbhag Pai.

The winner of the Miss New Mexico Teen USA, held the same evening, was Emily Lehr, who also holds the title of Miss Alamogordo Teen USA. The runner-up was Miss Albuquerque Teen USA Jade Vargas.

“I was so happy,” said the pageant’s director, Laura Rayborn of Laura’s Productions LLC El Paso, which independently directed and produced the pageants.

“Every year, the pageant gets better and better,” she said. Both are preliminaries of the Miss USA and Miss Teen USA pageants.

“I’ve never seen a team of girls work so well together,” Rayborn said, remembering that one girl even loaned a dress to another contestant, although it had to be safety-pinned to fit because the dress owner was considerably taller than the girl who borrowed it, she said.

“I’ve never seen a group of girls helping out a competitor,” she said. “That says a lot. I was so impressed. They all had a very, very positive experience.”

Rayborn said the two competitions were much more than beauty pageants. The girls who participated also learned interview skills and how to present themselves and gained self-esteem, she said.

“Hopefully, we’ll come back with a crown,” Rayborn said, as the state competition winners compete in the Miss Teen USA contest Nov. 27 and the Miss USA contest Nov. 29, both in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Visit LaurasProductions.com.