PF native competing for Miss USA

Post Falls native daughter Tracey Brown is preparing in Las Vegas this week for the upcoming Miss USA pageant.

The Whitworth College senior is the reigning Miss Idaho USA.

Brown is no stranger to high-level pageants, serving as Miss Idaho in the Miss America pageant in 2006 and as Idaho’s Jr. Miss in 2004.

In Boise, however, Brown would be better known as the young woman who pushed in 2006 for Idaho specialty license plates marking breast cancer awareness, with a pink ribbon and the message “Early detection saves lives.”

Brown’s mother, Debbie, survived breast cancer and has been an inspiration to her daughter. Brown made breast cancer awareness and cancer research part of her Miss Idaho.

She graduated from Post Falls High School in 2004 as salutatorian and is an honor student at Whitworth, where she is studying broadcast journalism.

Brown is also a trained ballet dancer.

The winner of the Miss USA pageant on April 11 will be sent to the Miss Universe pageant later in the year.