Airdrie's Kansas King is the new Queen of Calgary.

King, who is set to particpate in the Miss Universe Canada competition this fall was asked to join last weekend's Miss Calgary.

"It was very last minute so I didn't really get to get ready for it," says King, "I had been preparing for Miss Universe Canada. I basically said 'yes, let's do this,' and I ended up winning."

King says she entered the competition to gain the experience and didn't expect to win, given that it was her first pageant.

"It was very much like, 'ok, let's do my best as if I was doing Miss Universe Canada'...I was so sure that someone else was going to win and then when I got called up, I was shocked, I was like, 'that's my name, I need to start walking now'."

She says that the greatest thing she learned from the pageant that she can pass on to others is to be confident and believe in yourself.

"I just kept believing in myself and I said, 'you know what? I'm going to do the best I can and see how that goes,' no matter what, I'm going to be gaining experience from this and always just think of the positive outcome that you're going to be gaining."

With the Miss Calgary sash now draped around her, King will be busy at many events, but she's still looking for support as she prepares for Miss Universe Canada.

"Since I've been walking around telling people that I am Miss Calgary, I've had a lot more people come to me now and say 'hey, I'll sponsor you.' It's actually a really cool opportunity."

Miss Universe Canada is set to go this September in Toronto.

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