Keely is in her third year of a Bachelor of Education degree while working full-time at The Sir Henry Parkes Memorial Primary School as a student learning and support officer. At the moment she is also sharing the secretarial role for the Tenterfield Show Society.

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She will be joined in Sydney by April Squires from Narrabri, who follows in her mother's footsteps as the second generation to become Narrabri Showgirl.

April has spent the last year working as an early education provider and has just commenced her Bachelor of Education at the University of New England.

The Zone 4 final was held at Narrabri on Saturday, where 14 Showgirls from across the region competed for a place in the Sydney Royal finals.

As the Zone finals so closely follow the Tenterfield Show, newly-crowned Tenterfield Showgirls are given 12 months experience in the role before they contest the zone competition the following year.

Keely said she had a great year and the preparation that she received, which was similar to the zone judging process, gave her an advantage over some of the other contenders. She gave due credit to showgirl coordinator Ellie Griffiths, continuing on the framework setup by past coordinators Liz Duff and Melissa Ware.

Still the zone win came as a shock.

"It was definitely unexpected," Keely said.

During the judging process each Showgirl undertook a 15-minute interview with a panel of three judges at the Crossing Theatre during the day, where they also attended a luncheon on the verandah.

The evening proceedings included dinner with special guests, family and friends and a brief on-stage interview before the judging results were announced.

The judges of the competition were Agricultural Societies Council president David Williams, The Land’s Kirra Kelly and ASC Next Gen president Bianca Williams.

Keely said she will get information on what is expected as the Easter Show approaches once other zones have announced their own representatives.