Former GC reporter Laura McKeeman represents Florida in Miss America pageant

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Laura McKeeman was born in Atlanta, Georgia where she spent the first 10 years of her youth studying ballet and piano. She moved to Florida in 1998 and began exploring her passion for music. She quickly mastered the violin and dulcimer.

Then she tried her hand at the drums and played percussion in a jazz band during middle school. Laura continued dancing and realized she wanted to focus on her opportunities with ballet. At the age of 16, she traveled to Shanghai, China to study at the Shanghai Theater Academy.

Shortly after her time over in China, Laura was accepted into the prestigious Kirov Academy of Ballet in Washington D.C. She studied there for a year and returned to Florida after that to finish high school and dance with the Orlando Ballet. Laura was offered contracts at Nashville Ballet and Sarasota Ballet but decided to turn the contracts down so she could attend the University of Florida to study broadcast journalism.

Laura quickly became involved at UF. She joined Zeta Tau Alpha Sorority, became a campus tour guide and worked as a leader in UF’s student government. Laura also began laying the foundations for her career as a sports broadcaster while at UF. She started working at WRUF Sports Radio 850 hosting talk shows and doing sports updates. Instantly she was hooked and covered every sport from volleyball to football at Florida.

She began developing a niche in College Football Recruiting and started covering prospects all over the southeast that were being recruited by Division I football programs. Laura also continued dancing and began competing in the Miss America Pageant System her junior year of college. She won the title of Miss Suncoast 2010 and was a semi-finalist at Miss Florida 2010, winning a preliminary interview award.

In 2011, Laura won the title of Miss St. Petersburg and was 2nd runner up to Miss Florida 2011 in July. In February 2012, she was crowned Miss Pinellas County and she will compete for the title of Miss Florida 2012 in July.

Currently, Laura is working for FOX Sports Interactive and FOX Sports Florida. She covers college football recruiting, basketball, baseball and much more for the entire southeastern United States. Her official title is Southeast Recruiting Reporter. In addition, she is part of the Tampa Bay Rays Broadcast team on Sun Sports and FOX Sports Florida providing content for the Rays Live Pre and Post game shows as well as in-game video spots.

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