Vermilion County Fair Queen Abby Foster earned the title of Miss Illinois Fair Queen Sunday night. She was crowned at the Crown Plaza Convention Center in Springfield at the annual Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs Convention.

Miss Foster is east-central Illinois' first winner since 2008.

Foster is a 2015 graduate of Oakwood High School now attending Ball State University.

Foster was in fine company as one of nine area women among the finalists in the competition. Also making the cut for the finals was Jordyn Basler of Milford, the reigning Iroquois County Fair Queen; Amy Loschen of Kempton, the Ford County Fair Queen; and Sierra Dicken representing the Georgetown Fair.

Other finalists were Haley Duden (Champaign County Fair), Mikala Grandfield (Piatt County Fair), Karson Pacunas (Fisher Fair), Shaila Quinn (Farmer City/DeWitt County Fair) and Gabrielle Uphoff (Moultrie-Douglas County Fair).

94.1 WGFA