Miss Shelby County 2003 Whitney Weldon will compete in the Miss Alabama competition at Samford University this weekend.

Local pageant organizer Hayden Jeffries wished Weldon, a student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, good luck at Miss Alabama.

&uot;It’s been a great year,&uot; she said.

This will be Weldon’s third year to compete at the state level. She was crowned Miss Shelby County in June 2002.

Her platform for the year is asthma awareness, and she has represented it well, having been chosen as the 2003 Alabama ambassador for the American Lung Association.

Weldon joined the other young ladies at a golf tournament on June 9. Her interview followed that evening.

Preliminaries including the talent competition at which Weldon will sing &uot;Sir Duke&uot; were held Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.

On Saturday night, June 14, the new Miss Alabama will be crowned.

Miss Shelby County 2004 will be named Friday, June 20 at 7 p.m. at Chelsea High School