News Archives - 1999

Augsburg College senior Natalie Lund, 21, of New Brighton, Minn., won the Miss Minnesota pageant on June 19 in St. Cloud and will represent the state in the Miss America pageant on Sept. 18 in Atlantic City, N.J. She also will receive $7,500 in scholarships and more than $7,600 in prizes.

Lund won the right to compete in the Miss Minnesota pageant by winning the Miss Central Minnesota pageant earlier in the year. It was the second time she had competed for Miss Minnesota honors. In her first state pageant (1997), Lund finished as the second runner-up.

Winning this year's pageant means Lund will be making 275 public appearances around the state over the next year in addition to spending more than two weeks at activities associated with the Miss America pageant.

As a result, Lund, who is a communications major at Augsburg, will be postponing her college studies for a year. She says that while she will miss being on campus, she hopes her year as Miss Minnesota will help her narrow down her career interests.

Among those interests are business and languages. Lund is fluent in Ukrainian and studied French for eight years prior to college. She has studied Russian for three semesters at Augsburg.

For now, Lund is busy with pageant preparations.

"Everything I do every day is something to prepare for the pageant," she says.

Part of that preparation is practicing her talent, which is tap dance, and working on her platform of community volunteerism, an interest she says Augsburg has helped to shape.

"Service-learning is really important at Augsburg, and Augsburg is a leader in that area," Lund says. "Its location in the city gives me more opportunities for volunteering."

An excellent student, Lund has made the Dean's list in each semester she has been at Augsburg. She credits her professors for supporting her during her pageant preparation.

"The professors have been wonderful," Lund said, "especially the communications professors, because they've been understanding of my situation and very supportive.

"I've had a few professors write me a card afterward and congratulate me (on winning). That means a lot."

Lund said she chose Augsburg after graduating from Totino-Grace High School in 1996 because "I wanted to be at a small liberal arts college, and at the same time, I love the city."

Lund, the daughter of Charles and Val Lund of New Brighton, graduated from Totino-Grace High School in 1996.

She is the second Augsburg student to win the Miss Minnesota pageant. Judy (Lerstad) Hill won the pageant in 1962, the same year she graduated from Augsburg.

Augsburg alum Ann Bogren (1989) won the Miss Black Minnesota pageant in 1989.

Miss America website